Jennifer's Story
by Jimmydeanbakker
Summary: After two, One Hundred gangsters kidnap Jennifer for some quick cash, she forms a bond with one of the teens with special abilities. In the end, she must stop him from using his powers against the power structure in Freeland.
1. Chapter 1

Kidnapping of Jennifer

Freeland's night air burned Jennifer Pierce's nostrils because of the fire at Downing Chemical, a dangerous cancer-causing company located in the center of the city. She had on her nice, white shirt with a black skirt and nice shoes. She wore her hair in a ponytail and looked somewhat innocent. Her large brown eyes gave her a teenage look, a look that caught a lot of guy's attention. She had a pack of menthol cigarettes in her left shirt pocket that she smoked throughout the night. The stench of the cigarettes stained her clothes, but she didn't mind because most of the people in her class smoked.

A high amount of cancer outbreaks happened within the housing complex located near the plant, but since the company brought the city millions of dollars in taxes a year, nobody desired to tell them to clean up their waste. At least twenty-five percent of the employees of Downing Chemical had some form of cancer. She walked home from Kirby's Skating Rink, a little get-away on Seventh Street near Little Donuts. She only lived two miles from Kirby's, and with the advent of the new Black Lightning, she didn't worry about somebody attacking her. For the first time, as far back as she could remember, Freeland felt like a welcoming home, and the One Hundred moved about the city calmly and discreetly.

The synthetic stench that permeated through the air drove her insane because it gave her a whopping headache. She hated dealing with the discarded, big business waste that infused diseases within the community. She planned on marching through the city with a group of activists over the waste, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. The world didn't care what happened to Freeland, and as long as the people considered undesirables occupied the town, the government would always be free to dispose of their waste on top of the citizens.

Unfortunately, when she arrived within a block of her house, she saw a blue van speeding around the corner. It came at her so fast that she barely had a chance to leap out of the way. The van was one of those old, seventy vans with the sliding door on the side of it. It was an old-fashioned Grand Van. She dove into a patch of grass for safety, and then when she climbed to her feet, two goons grabbed her, put a hood over her head, and threw her in the back of the vehicle. She could feel the carpeted floor and it smelled like cinnamon.

"What's going on?" She asked frantically.

"You're Principal's Pierce's daughter," one of the men said, "He'll pay dearly for your narrow ass."

At first, she struggled to break free of her captor's grip, but when he implied that her father had money to pay, she burst out into laughter. "Listen, idiots. Principles don't have money." Nobody said anything at first. The van raced down the street, and she didn't have a clue where the kidnappers were taking her. "Are you going to say anything?"

"Your father has something," one of the men said as if he knew about the Principal's finances personally. "He's not poor."

"If my father had money, we wouldn't be living in Freeland, idiot."

"How about your mama? I'm sure she has something. Ain't she a doctor or something?"

Quickly, Jennifer pulled off her hood and saw the kidnappers were Reese Johnson and Bay Nelson. She looked at the young men for a moment with their braided hair, and calmly said, "Just let me go before somebody realizes I'm missing."

"Nah, girl. We ain't going to let you go," Reese said with a grimace. He had on a purple buttoned up shirt. His narrow eyes, big teeth, and a gold crown on one of his top front teeth made him look somewhat crazy. Reese had a large forehead with thick, dark black eyebrows.

"You two are plain silly," she said, "I'm not worth anything. You aren't going to get a dime for me."

When the van came to a halt, the kidnappers pushed her into an old, dilapidated building near Downing Chemical. She could smell the stench of the chemicals up close, and she hated it. The men sat her in the middle of the floor, tied up her hands, and then stuffed a towel in her mouth because she kept talking. "You need to know when to shut up sometimes." She continued to struggle with the towel in her mouth, and then she started to hyperventilate. Bay pulled the towel out of her mouth.

"My uncle is a cop," she said with a grimace. "When he finds out you kidnapped me."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Flashback…

Bay lived on the South Side of Freeland, almost in the next town over, and away from the main city. He stood approximately six-foot-two-inches tall and kept his hair pretty wild. He talked with a country accent, and when he wasn't running with Reese, he spent most of his time working the farm. A day prior to the kidnapping, he woke up his little brother, Freddie, around five-o'clock in the morning, slew the wild boar that rubbed the tree bark off the old maple, and cleaned it. Quickly, he put it in the freezer, and he did this all before class started at Garfield High. The boar menaced the farm for over three months, but he knew it liked to rub against the old maple tree every other morning, and he caught it exactly at the right time. With his old Winchester Rifle, he sniped it at three hundred yards.

Bay was only sixteen and Freddie recently turned thirteen, but due to punching his gym teacher in the groin, the Freeland Middle School expelled him. Bay's Mama, Tiana suffered from a fast-growing cervical cancer due to her years of work at Downing. She was a chemist for a number of years and specialized in growing crops impervious to disease. They lived a middle-class lifestyle until cancer hit, and after all the test, surgeries and extraneous treatments, her savings were depleted. Bay's father died when he was twelve of lung cancer, and he didn't smoke a day in his life. Ray Nelson worked in the testing lab, spraying, testing, and working on different strains of corn impervious to the elements. He watched his father cough up blood on the daily from the ages of ten to twelve, and when his father died, he was by his bedside.

Due to the chemical plant, the soil bled death, and anybody who fed on the contaminated earth changed on a cellular level including Bay and his brother Freddie. Bay's strength was far beyond any normal teen's, and it was evident when he swung his heavy hammer while fixing several of the fence posts that the boar destroyed. In one full swing, the fence post went halfway into the earth, and then he laughed. What killed his father and caused cancer in his mama transformed him into a metahuman, but most of the time, he kept quiet about his extraordinary abilities.

Freddie-on the other hand-had the ability to cloak himself. When he turned invisible, nobody could see him physically, but empaths could detect his emotions. Often, if another teenager tried to fight the young man, he would run away, turn invisible, and walk home. He never engaged in combat with another teenager because he didn't have any fighting skills like his older brother. That was the reason his actions against Mister Anderson shocked Bay. He couldn't believe his brother actually punched another human being.

Freddie walked up to him, and said, "The only reason I punched Mister Anderson was that he touched Miss Jenkins inappropriately."

Bay sucked on his front teeth, leaned against the hammer, and then said, "Mama's getting sicker by the day, Freddie." He looked over at the house and shook his head in the negative. The morning breeze brushed past him, and it felt pretty good. "There's no more money for her treatments. I really can't have you causing any more trouble at school."

"You would've done the same thing if you saw what I saw. He shoved her into the bathroom, covered her mouth, and tried to rape her."

"Then why didn't she take up for you when the school's administration expelled you? You'll end up repeating the seventh grade because of this."

Quickly, he came to his instructor's defense when Bay accused her of not helping him. "She was scared," Freddie said with a grimace. "Fear makes people do crazy things. You know that."

"We need to get you back in school," he said, "Mama didn't work hard all her life just to have us poor and destitute."

End of Flashback

Bay paced the floor while Reese looked out the window in the front room. Jennifer sat with her back against the wall, and her hands and feet were bound with duct tape. They spent two hours watching the streets-ensuring nobody saw them pick the young teen off the roadway. The teenage farm boy looked over at Jennifer and saw the stress in her eyes. If his Mama knew what he had done, she'd not approve of kidnapping a young woman for money. He knew it was an idiotic plan, but he followed Reese down a rabbit hole, and now wanted out of it.

"We probably should let her go," he said as he looked at the young woman fidgeting on the floor. "My Mama wouldn't approve of this." He looked up at his partner and watched the anger in his eyes and scowl on his face.

"I'm not doing this for your mama," Reese snapped. His voice was full of base and resentment-and anger. Bay realized immediately what he was trying to do, but he wasn't scared of the fake toughness. He knew what kind of powers he possessed, and some lowly hoodlum didn't scare him. "I'm trying to get paid."

Jennifer cleared her throat, shook her head in the negative, and then said, "My father doesn't have the kind of money you need, Bay." She brought her knees up to her chest, and said, "I'm sorry your family is going through another battle with cancer, but my own family would suffer financially if cancer struck any of us. Listen, we shouldn't be this close to Downing. This whole area is supposed to be off-limits." He looked at her like she had an angelic aura about her.

"I can't do it, man," Bay said with a scowl on his face. He walked over to Jennifer, and said, "I'm letting her go. It's the right thing to do."

Suddenly, Reese pulled out a handgun and pointed it directly at Bay's head. The farm boy looked directly at the barrel of the gun, and it enraged him. "Try it, and I'll put a bullet in your head, Bay. I'm serious."

"You don't want to do that," Jennifer said. "Nobody has to know about this…"

"You won't be the first fool I've killed, son," Reese said.

Slowly, Bay raised his hands over his head. He wondered if Reese was just saying a bunch of words to sound hard, but at the same time, he did have a weapon pointed at his head. When his partner looked over at Jennifer, he hit him with a quick uppercut, and due to the fact he put so much energy into the punch, it caused Reese to bounce off the ceiling. When he looked down at his partner, the young man moaned in pain. Picking the gun off the floor, he bent it in half with his bare hands and then threw it back on the ground.

Later in the day…

The aroma from Jennifer's Mama's spaghetti permeated the house. Lynn, her mother, had just put the food in the refrigerator, and the scent continued to bounce off the walls. She came home late, so she missed dinner with the family. Her father often instilled in her that a family should always eat together. Due to the harsh world of being a teenager in Freeland, she often found it difficult to be at home by seven o'clock for dinner. She still had things she wanted to do, and people she needed to see. She warmed up some of the food in the microwave. Feeling uneasy, she thought for a minute as her food heated about Bay's strength, and the way he bent the pistol with his bare hands. It was obvious that he had abilities beyond the normal, and if he didn't point them in the right direction, he could be extremely dangerous. But at the same time, he wasn't really her concern. When she sat down at the dining room table, Anissa-her older sister-sat across from her.

Anissa stood a few inches taller than Jennifer and didn't smile near as much. Most of the kids referred to her as Harriet Tubman, and she didn't let it bother her too much. "Where have you been?"

"Hanging with friends," she said. "I went skating."

She tapped her hands on the dinner table, and then said, "Be careful in the mean streets of Freeland. These fools out here trying to pimp out girls."

Jennifer looked down at her food for a moment and then replied, "I know. I ran into Bay Nelson today." She paused for a moment, and then said, "His mama is terminal. She's not going to make it."

"Didn't she work in Downing Chemical?" Anissa asked.

"Yeah," she said.

"Higher rates of cancers in all the people who worked and lived around that evil place," she said, "Personally, I think the whole town is infected with carcinogens because of that place."

She listened to her sister for a moment, and then asked, "What's the possibility that the waste from the plant has changed some people?"

Anissa looked at her for a moment, and then asked, "Like how?"

"Super strength," she said calmly.

She laughed at her little sister, and then asked, "You feeling strong or something?"

After her sister made fun of her, she left. Jennifer finished up her meal, rinsed off her plate, and then placed it in the dishwasher. She ran upstairs to her bedroom and tried to push the kidnapping out of her mind, but it was hard to do. She took a warm, relaxing bath, but still couldn't focus because so many unfettered thoughts raced through her mind. Despite the class action lawsuit against Downing Chemical, she knew it wasn't enough medical care in the package to take care of the sick. And from what she knew about Freeland, a lot of people who lived next to the plant suffered from some form of cancer.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Saturday morning-early in the morning-Bay sat in the basement of his house and watched over his genetically enhanced cannabis crop. He had four, large ghost cabinets with hybrid strains of large, cannabis plants that he took pride in growing to make some quick cash for his Mama's cancer treatments. He knew his genetically enhanced weed interfered with the One Hundred's weed supply, but he didn't care. He had to use the herbs to pay for his Mama's cancer treatment. With his Mama's research from Downing Chemical, he grew a robust, out-of-this-world cannabis crop like no other crop in Freeland or Little Africa-or any place in the United States. It was a healthy crop, the kind of crop meant to change the industry forever. But since Downing Chemical had thousands of lawsuits against it over its waste, they didn't have a department to experiment on growing a better crop.

When she smoked cannabis, it alleviated her pain, and as far as Bay knew, it helped keep her alive. He had four, nice thousand watt lights, and expected to produce one hundred and forty ounces of product. That was about eight point seventy-five pounds of product, and that equated to about three thousand six hundred sixty-nine grams. At twenty dollars a gram, he believed he could make right under eighty-thousand dollars. He was looking at making seventy-nine thousand, three hundred seventy-eight dollars and sixty cents. He felt good about his supply and knew he'd have to do everything within his power to protect it.

He had already made a lot of money off some of his other crops, but officer Andy Rodrick, a dirty cop who patrolled the slums, confiscated the last of his previous stash. Bay had already made up his mind that he wasn't going to allow anybody to commandeer his new crop, and if anybody came for it, he'd use his super strength to stop them. His Mama's life depended on the money generated from his hard work because the medical doctors in Freeland wouldn't administer any treatment without payment. It was a cruel world, a dog eats dog world, and if Bay didn't play hardball in the mean streets, he knew Freeland would eat him alive.

After he cut a few of the stocks, he hung them on a line that stretched across the basement room. He had several lines because he had other plants hanging, drying, and a few ground up, bagged and had on his person to sell when he traveled to his spot in the slums. He thought about finding a new location to hock his weed because selling drugs in front of Sue's Bistro was a scary spot. The Asian woman killed three of his associates with a knife, and what made him nervous was they all had guns. Understanding the ways of the slums, he understood the ways of the slums, and that meant he had to carry a pistol when he worked in Freeland. It was the way of life in Freeland. The cops, businessmen, and criminals were all bad, but the first two did more damage to Freeland than the latter.

When he ran up the stairs, he had several rolled up joints on him, and when he heard his Mama coughing loudly, he lit her a joint, and she laid back and smoked it. Her hair was in raggedy braids, and she had a cold stare on her face. The room had some shoes, clothes, and other things strewn about it, and he began to pick them up for her.

"You haven't failed me, Bay," she said in a weak and brittle voice. "You've done everything to pay for my treatments, but the price is far too much."

"What are you saying, Mama? This new batch will yield nearly eighty thousand dollars."

She laughed. "I'm tired, son. I'm tired of fighting," she said. She pulled out a revolver, set it on her lap, and began to cry. "Bury me next to your father."

"Mama, let me continue the fight," he said, "If you kill yourself, it'll destroy Freddie's childhood and leave a gaping hole in my heart."

"Look at me, Bay?" She asked. "I'm not even half the person I used to be. I'm sick. I"m tired. I'm ready to go."

He walked over to her, grabbed the gun, and placed it in the small of his back. "I can't let you do that. I can't. In this whole world, there has to be something that can help you."

She took a drag of her joint, and laughed a little. "Always the protective one. Always the dreamer."

In Front of Sue's Bistro…

The temperature was about seventy-five degrees, and it was a busy corner. Sporadically, and often, groups of young people headed to Martin Luther King Junior's Park for the Carnival. His brother rolled by on his bike and headed down the street too. Almost the entire town would visit the park for the celebration of all the people who contributed to black history. He remembered Sue selling Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Harriet Tubman t-shirts at the dismay of some of the other, woke, black vendors. But regardless of what other people thought, she made her money, and always said, "You can't be opposed to making money if you want to make it in this world."

Sue-the Asian lady-cleaned up around her store, and she had a bitter scowl on her face. Over the years, the look in her eyes had changed, and he didn't know why. Nearly two weeks ago, he heard she had died, and then he heard she was merely sick with the flu. In addition to that, she spoke under her breath like a crazy person, and when Bay looked at her, she asked, "What? You want some of me?" She was confrontational, but he didn't let it bother him. He was only in front of her store to make money because it was one of the best spots in the whole area.

He looked at her for a moment, and said, "Leave me alone, old lady. I don't want to be bothered with you today."

"Just don't throw your trash on the ground," she said, "Show me a little respect. You see me cleaning up this spot every day. I'll be watching you." She pointed directly at him, and he felt a little nervous by her because of her recent history. "You make your money. I don't say anything to you. But you show my storefront some respect and don't throw garbage on the ground. Okay?"

"Okay," he said.

From his position, he could see the woman was going crazy, circling maddeningly, maddeningly inching toward the drain of life. He didn't dare put in his earplugs with the crazy woman behind him because she seemed unpredictable. Capricious. From what he knew, she could sneak up behind him while he listened to his music, and stab him in the back. Even though all of the yellow tape around the bistro was gone, it was just a few days ago that she killed the three intruders into her restaurant. She had the ability to do more with a knife than most hoodlums knew how to do with a gun.

"What the hell are you selling?" She asked. He looked back at her and she stood with her hands on her hips, snarky attitude, and a look as if she was interested in his product.

"Cannabis," he said with a grimace. "Some of the best Cannabis in existence."

"How much?" She asked.

"Twenty for a gram," he said.

She walked over to him, and said, "That's expensive. It better be all that, and then some."

"It's a good price for what I'm selling," he said, "It's powerful stuff."

"Just weed, right?" She asked. "I'm a vendor at the Carnival. Can't get too lit."

"Yeah. It's not mixed with anything if that's what you think," he said.

She handed him forty dollars, and said, "Two grams."

"Okay," he said. He handed her the bags and she gave him the money.

The lady continued to clean around her Bistro, and it was only eight o'clock in the morning. She sat in front of the store for a moment, smoked part of a joint, and then said, "Damn! I just took one good puff, and I'm done already." She put the joint out, placed it in her pocket, and said, "You know the Carnival is about to start?"

He didn't say anything to her but just looked back at her for a second. She walked around to the back of her store and came back with a cart on wheels. When she began her trek down the street, one of her books fell off the cart, and he ran up to her and picked it up.

"That's ten bucks," she said with a grimace.

"I already read it," he said. "It's a pretty good book. I've read all of Mister Ryan's books. I think he has a thing for Asian women."

"It's about me," she said. "I'm the Asian woman in the book."

He laughed. "Just because Mister Ryan lives down the street doesn't make the book about you," he said. "Goodness."

She laughed. "My name is Sue Ryan." She pulled out her ID, and it had Sue Ryan right on it.

"You're kidding me, right?" He asked.

"He has a weakness for frumpy Asian women," she said, "Don't ask me why because nobody knows."

Bay laughed. "You seem like a good person, Misses Ryan," he said with a smile. "So, that little kid, Thong, is your child?"

"Yes," she said as she walked down the street.

She waved at him and continued her trek down the street. As he stood in front of her bistro, he saw a black, sports car roll by with a license plate that read "JJ." Suddenly a flock of people walked down the street, and they were all headed for Martin Luther King Jr. Park and several people dropped by for a gram of weed. Within thirty minutes, he made nearly ten thousand dollars. He didn't expect his product to move so fast. In fact, he was all out of his product, and wouldn't have any more for a day or so.

All of a sudden, he heard the sound of an electric guitar playing some nice, soul music, and he wanted to go check it out, but he also had to be careful. The roar of a guy's voice reverberated throughout the area, and the noise of the crowd was overwhelming. He could hear the music and raucous like he was in the crowd, but he was over three blocks away. He walked in front of a newsstand, and noticed a picture of Officer Andy Rodrick on it, and it read, "Deceased." He paused for a moment as he read the article, and his heart skipped a beat because his body was found about a mile from his house. When he walked towards the park, a guy from the One Hundred pulled up to him, and they exchanged words.

"Listen, Bay! If you're going to sell your own product, you're going to have to split the profits. Ninety for the One Hundred and ten for you."

"I'm not giving the One Hundred anything, Ray Ray," he said with a grimace. "There's enough room for all of us."

Ray Ray pulled out a gun, and Bay moved like lightning. He struck the side door of the car with his right fist so hard that it caused a shockwave through the vehicle. The force of the blow spun the car around and around, and then when it flipped over on its top, Ray Ray was crushed underneath it. Bay saw what he had done. He looked around the immediate area but didn't see anybody who witnessed his fantastic strength. He picked the vehicle off the young gang member, but he was dead. The way the vehicle landed on his face smashed his skull and crushed his upper torso. Blood was all over the ground. He retched in front of the car for about three minutes before he came to his senses. For the whole time, he looked at the hoodlum's body on the ground as blood spewed out of his mouth, and prayed for him.

"May Jesus give you a better home than you had here," he said, "But if anybody tries to stop me from helping my Mama, I will kill them."

Walking away from the wreckage, he looked back at it, over at the body, and tried his best to push the pain down into his stomach. The streets of Freeland weighed heavy on his soul, and in the last few days, over ten people had been murdered. When it came to Ray Ray, he killed him in self-defense, but he doubted the authorities would see it the same way. It was highly probable that some camera somewhere caught what happened, and at the end of the day, he probably was going to end up in prison.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Jefferson Pierce, Anissa, and Jennifer drove to the Carnival, and when Jennifer arrived, she immediately went over to Sue's cart. She had a photo of Mister Ryan with a ton of his books all around the table. Hanging directly in front of the cart were several religious necklaces from crosses to the Star of David. The Asian lady knew how to make a quick buck. In addition, she had some Malcolm X shirts that hung on the right side of her booth. She had to maneuver through hundreds of people to make her way to the trinkets. The Asian woman sat behind her cart on a folding chair and didn't smile at all. She just looked straight ahead until Jennifer picked up a book.

There were hundreds of little booths around the area with people selling all sort of books on blackness, trinkets, and other items. There were even two booths focused on self-defense techniques that former, African American Green Berets ran. The carnival had everything needed to make it work.

Jennifer picked up one of the books titled, "Poor Little Asian Girl," and read that the author was Mister Ryan. She laughed for a moment because she knew that he owned the apartment building, The Towering Heights. "Did Mister Ryan write this?" She said, "I've been meaning to read it, but never got around to it." She smiled for a moment.

"It's about me," she said, "When I was young and pretty." She smiled for a moment, and then her smile dissolved into sadness. "But that was then."

Jennifer chuckled at the diminutive, little lady as she stood up from her small chair. She looked the book over, pulled out ten dollars, and handed it to Sue. She read the back of the book, and it said, "To my Sue. I will always love you." Jennifer smiled at the older lady, and then said, "I'm sure all the ladies named Sue claim this book is about them."

Suddenly, Nick Ryan walked up to her, and he was tall, dark, and handsome. Walking with him was a Blasian kid who looked just like him. Mister Ryan, however, looked like a chocolate dream to her. He said, "No. It's about her. We married when we were twenty-years-old, in love, and trying to make our way through life."

"But I never see y'all together," she said. She felt a little confused because she wasn't a stranger to Freeland. "I see you all the time sitting on the steps of your apartment complex. I see your son running up and down the street all the time, but I never see you guys as a couple."

"I wrote the book nearly ten years ago," he said. "We were poor, right out of college, and I needed the money."

"But what broke you guys apart?" She asked. Thinking about what she asked, she quickly replied, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

"Let's just say life interfered with our union," he said, "I was born in Central African and she was born in Vietnam. Not everybody saw our union the way we did."

"You mean your family," Sue said, "My parents didn't have a problem with it."

Mister Ryan had an uncomfortable grin on his face, and then said, "Enjoy the book."

"I will," Jennifer said, "Thank you, Mister Ryan. Misses Ryan." She walked away from Sue's booth and felt a little weirded out. For a moment, she thought they were going to start arguing, but they didn't. They pulled it together. As she roamed around the area, she listened to the music in the background and then walked over to the cotton candy stand, and the line was long. The lady at the machine was Misses Franklin, an older woman who used to teach Math at Garfield High. She looked about forty-years-old but was sixty-two, and still did a lot of outdoor activities. Jennifer often saw her working in her small garden over on the Nineteenth Street, and she used to have a tutoring program for kids who struggled with reading.

When she looked at the stage, a tall, gothic-looking black kid played an electric guitar like he was Prince on his final tour. For a moment, she squinted as she looked at him, and realized it was JJ Johnson. She looked at the white girl dancing on the stage, the drummer, and several of the other kids, but she didn't see his girlfriend, Peppermint. He never went anywhere without her, and she wondered if they had broken up. When she looked off to the side of the stage, she could see Peppermint holding her belly, and realized she was very pregnant.

When JJ sang some old rock songs, the crowd went crazy, but it was music for an older generation, a generation like her father's generation. She heard him play more modern music in the past, but she also knew when he came to town, he played for the crowd. In the early morning hours, a lot of older people were at the Carnival, and the younger crowd wouldn't flood in until later in the day. By the time she made it up to the front of the line, the music changed to Hip Hop, and she thought the gothic kid, JJ, had stopped playing and another singer took over. But when she looked up, the gothic, black dude was rapping like Drake, and all the girls in the crowd started going crazy.

When she paid for her cotton candy, the music changed again, and then the young, white girl wearing a heavy coat walked out on the stage. She changed her clothes several times during the performances, and now she was wearing a coat, and it was at least seventy-something degrees outside. Her braided hair looked good, especially with the way she wore her make-up. As she walked past the other band members on the stage, it almost looked like they were worshipping her beauty, but it was part of the performance. It looked bizarre for a moment, and then several band members from Freeland's High School Band flooded the stage with their guitars. One of the guys pulled the coat off the girl's back, and she was wearing a long, white dress, a wedding dress with a lot of cleavage showing. Then the gothic guy played a deep, base rift on his guitar, and when she started singing, the crowd began jumping up and down. She was singing one of Madonna's old songs, "LIke a Virgin." Jennifer had heard the song before, and it was beautiful. The high school band backed him up, and when they finished, they did a lot of fist-bumping. The gothic guy grabbed the microphone and spoke to the crowd.

"Okay, ladies and gents, I have to cut it short, and my boys from Garfield High are going to take it from here. My fiancee is about to give birth. I love you guys, Freeland. We'll be back for Juneteenth. I promise you that, and we'll put on a helluva show."

The applause for the young man and his crew was loud and boisterous, and then he waved and left the stage. The white girl followed behind him, and then they left. The DJ of the event played some music, and everybody mingled with each other for awhile. The smell of funnel cakes permeated throughout the area. Bay Nelson walked over to Jennifer, and she immediately went off.

"You have some nerve approaching me, Bay," she said. "You need to learn some boundaries."

"I don't know why I did what I did, but I'm sorry," he said. He ate on a large caramel apple and some cherry cotton candy. "Is there no forgiveness in your world, Jennifer?" She looked at him for a moment, stole a piece of his cotton candy, and didn't know what to make of the situation.

"I can't get enough of this stuff," she said as she stuffed a piece of the sweet confection into her mouth. She saw some thugs walking her way, but she didn't make anything out of it at first. She grabbed another piece of cotton candy off the tube, and before she could stick it in her mouth, the thugs grabbed Bay by the arm. There was a large guy with them, a guy much larger than the average human being, and she hadn't ever seen him in her life. One of the guys had his arm and escorted the young teen through the crowd of people. She looked around for a moment but didn't see her uncle, John, in the crowd, so she didn't have anybody to tell about the kidnapping. She followed the men as they pushed the kid down the street, and they were about a block from Sue's Bistro when they shoved him between two buildings. One of the buildings was the Towering Heights, and it allowed for the gangsters to conceal their actions from the eyes of the public.

Jennifer followed behind them, but at a serious distant so they wouldn't detect her. When they ducked behind the buildings, she saw one of the guys pull out a silver gun, and then she hid by the steps of one of the Towering Heights. He brandished the shiny weapon in front of Bay's face, but the kid didn't flinch at all. She could hear the men as they threatened the teen's life. When they threw him on the ground, the guy with the gun pointed it at him started screaming about Bay encroaching on his drug business. When a drug dealer infringed on another dealer's territory, it meant trouble, and since the One Hundred ran Freeland's underbelly, the entire city belonged to them.

"You've been selling your own product on the streets of Freeland," the young man said. He took something out of his shirt pocket and sniffed it. He looked like it brought him some pleasure. He was merely stating a fact. It was the crime that Bay committed in the eyes of the One Hundred, and when a drug dealer encroached on another drug dealer's territory, it meant death. The streets of Freeland were harsh, cruel, and unforgiving, and every criminal knew that. "What have we told you about that, Bay?"

"My Mama is dying, Bounce," he said, "I need the money for her treatment." Jennifer didn't know what to make of the one they called Bounce, but she heard plenty stories about his killings. He stood over Bay with his dreadlocks tied into a ponytail. He wore a white, hooded sweatshirt with the words, "Teachable Moment" written on the front of it. She believed his name was Brian Bounce Henderson but wasn't sure. If it was Brian, he was a notorious killer who was one of the cleaners for the One Hundred. She had heard about his evil ways, and now she feared for Bay's life. The students of Garfield High rarely let the name Bounce leap off their lips because of the carnage behind it. They feared the man because he killed without provocation.

"I don't care about you or your mother," he said. He held the gun to Bay's face, and the other guys held him in place. She felt so emotional that she began to sob loudly. When she looked up, one of the gang members was standing directly in front of her. He was a wide fellow that looked more like a Soviet tank than a human being. For such a large man, he moved quietly through the grass. It caught her by surprise that she didn't hear him at all, and that disturbed her.

"Get your ass over there," he said as he grabbed her by the right arm. It was a little after noontime, warm, and she couldn't believe she was about to die. She tried to resist the grip of the large man, but he was a lot stronger than her. He shoved her between the two buildings, and then she felt her hands tingling. It was almost like a throbbing kind of tingle that affected each finger on her hands. Her entire body felt warm all over, and even though it was approximately eighty degrees, she felt like her body temperature was over one hundred degrees.

"Looks like two for the price of one," Brian said laughingly. As he chuckled, the words, "Teachable Moment" bounced up and down.

When he pointed the gun at Bay, he pulled the trigger, and the young man flew backward. He hit the ground hard, but she didn't see any blood at all. She screamed, "Noooooooo!" A lightning bolt shot out of Jennifer's hands and electrocuted all the men standing. It happened without her control, but it happened nonetheless. The energy blanketed the area between the two houses, and the young men screamed in agony as the energy exited Jennifer's body. It was cathartic, empowering, and life-saving. Her hands stopped tingling after the discharge of electricity. As the men groaned on the ground, her hands inadvertently released another blast of electricity, and it threw the criminals up against the wall. When they fell to the ground, blood poured out of their bodies, and she knew they weren't getting up anytime soon.

Quietness overtook the area, and she couldn't believe what she had done. She looked down at her hands, and they sparked for a moment. When she looked over at Bay, he slowly climbed to his feet, wiped the dirt off his clothes, and said, "Damn, girl! Are you Black LIghtning?"

"No," she said sheepishly. She then looked at him with a serious look. "You should be dead," she said with a grimace.

"I know," he said. "But as I grow older, I grow stronger and almost indestructible." He looked at the bullet hole in his shirt, but it didn't penetrate his skin. "We need to get out of here before somebody sees us." He walked up to her, and then said, "The cops pretty much work for the One Hundred. For the gang to thrive the way they do, the cops, city council, and pretty much all of Freeland's power structure stands with the One Hundred."

The couple walked down the street, over to the carnival, and listened to the band play. Jennifer thought the entire time about what Bay told her because deep down, she felt he was right. She saw the cops pull her father out of his vehicle because they could. They didn't respect his rights as an American citizen, and as long as the authorities infringed on a citizen's basic rights, then justice was not a reality. It was a truth that she had a hard time facing.

There must have been five thousand people dancing in the park listening to several Hip Hop artists rap to the crowd. The pleasant atmosphere made her feel a little better after the altercation with the gangsters. She looked down at her shirt for a moment when she realized she had speckles of red blood on it. She walked over to Sue's booth, purchased a Malcolm X shirt, and put it on in the portable bathroom. She threw her other shirt in the pile of poo.

The rapper's band had a unique sound. Mister and Misses Ryan danced near her booth, and Jennifer could tell he loved his wife.

Bay looked distraught, but he acted like nothing bothered him. The aroma of the freshly cooked popcorn caught her attention so she purchased a small bag. Mister Ryan's son ate a corn dog next to her uncle, John Stewart. John was only twenty-two-years-old and looked like he was still sixteen. According to her father, her uncle was on administrative leave from the Freeland Police Department because he shot his partner. He wore a sleek, black uniform that almost looked militaristic in style. He stood next to a woman with a similar uniform, and her muscular frame truly caught Jennifer's attention.

"Uncle John, how are you doing this afternoon?" Jennifer asked. It was obvious she felt uneasy about hurting the gangsters, but she had to do it. Even though she tried to overcome her anxiety, she still felt it. He turned around, and then his partner turned around and stared at her for a moment.

"Pretty good," he said, "Who's this?" He asked of Bay. John gave her friend a stern look, and Jennifer noticed it immediately.

"This is my friend, Bay Nelson," she said, "He's a good guy." She almost laughed because she thought, _well, he's not that good_.

"This young lady is Eli Ga'Narian," he said.

Jennifer stuck her hand out to shake Eli's hand, but the woman looked at her like she didn't know what it meant. It confused Jennifer for a moment, but she didn't let it bother her. She simply said, "Okay, then."

"I'm sorry," Eli said. She stuck out her hand, and Jennifer shook it. "I forgot I'm not on my world."

"Your world?" Bay asked. "You're from another planet?"

"Yes. I'm from a planet called Moxia," she said as she held up her ring hand. "I'm a Green Lantern."

"Oh snap! We had a Lantern named Hal Jordan," Bay said, "He was my hero, but I heard he went missing."

Later in the day…

It was about three in the afternoon, and from what Jennifer could tell, nearly forty thousand people roamed around the park. The announcer came over the intercom, and said, "James 'JJ' Johnson Junior was born at two thirty. He's doing fantastic." The crowd cheered because JJ and Peppermint always came down from Little Africa, played at different events, and broke bread with the high school band. Jennifer remembered watching him play the piano at Juneteenth when he was only twelve-years-old. She also remembered that a gang in Little Africa killed his father the same year. They all had a love slash hate relationship because JJ always beat the Garland High band in music competitions. It was the way of things, and everybody knew Little Africa produced several kid rockers.

When Jennifer looked back at the crowd, she saw Bay's little brother running frantically through the crowd. He looked disheveled for some reason. He ran up to his big brother, and said, "I can't get a hold of Moma. Something ain't right." He paced back and forth with the smartphone in his hand. He called her again, and it went right to voicemail.

"She's probably sleeping," he said with a grimace.

John looked back at Bay for a moment, and said, "When in doubt, check it out."

"Yeah," Freddie said with a grimace. "Check to make sure she's okay because I don't think she's okay," he said. I have a feeling something is wrong."

"She's extremely sick," Bay said, "I better check on her since I'm the oldest."

"I'll come with you," Jennifer said.

"Stay here, Freddie," Bay said, "I'll give you a call."

Bay's car sat quietly next to Sue's Bistro, and they ran nearly four blocks to get to it. But when he arrived at his house on the fringes of Freeland, he found his Moma convulsing on the floor. She had foam coming out of her mouth, eyes rolled in back of her head, and she looked like she was dying. Quickly, he ran over to her, picked her frail body off the ground, and placed her in the backseat of his car. He had recently cleaned all the garbage out of his car because he figured he'd have to rush his Momma to the hospital at some point. The last time he called an ambulance to come and pick her up, they took nearly forty-five minutes. Her labored breathing scared him. She appeared to be dying, and from what he knew, she was in the last stages of life.

Jennifer sat in the backseat with her and tried to keep the older woman breathing while racing to the hospital. "It's going to be okay, Bay. Just hurry."

"I"m just hoping they'll admit her," he said with a grimace. "I owe them about five thousand dollars from the last visit. I have ten thousand dollars in my pockets," he said, "That has to be enough for some treatment."

She thought for a moment about all the money he had on his person, and she didn't dare to ask because she already knew. He probably had sold some weed during the festivities, and from what she learned about the boys in Freeland, they knew how to sell their drugs in a clandestine manner.

As he raced down the highway, several police cars trailed behind him, and then flashed their lights. He was only a mile from the hospital, so he kept driving, waved for the cop to pull up beside him so he could tell him what he had to do. When the cop pulled up beside him, Bay tried to scream that he had to get his Momma to the hospital, but the cop in the passenger seat pulled out his gun and fired a round into the vehicle that bounced off Bay's forehead.

"They're trying to kill us!" Bay exclaimed.

"Maybe we should pullover," Jennifer said with a grimace.

The cop fired another round into the vehicle that hit the back of his seat, but it didn't penetrate his skin. Then the officer tried to ram into the car, but Bay sped up, and left the cops trailing behind him.

Suddenly, his Momma sang, "John Henry was a man. He was a big man." She laughed and then started coughing loudly. "I adopted you Bay when you were only three years old. You're a descendant of John Henry, a metahuman with super strength and impenetrable skin. It's in your blood to protect the weak. Your real name is John Henry the Sixth."

"I think she's losing it," Bay said as he raced down the highway. The cop fired several more rounds into the vehicle, and one of the bullets hit his Mom in the back. She fell limp in Jennifer's arms. When he pulled into the hospital, he grabbed his Moma out of the backseat. When he saw the blood pouring out of her back, he began screaming. "Oh my, God! What did they do? Why? Momma!" He screamed. He cried out for God to save his Mom, and then when the cops ran up to him as he carried her limp body into the hospital, one of the cops smashed him in the head with the butt of his gun. The blow didn't stop the young man from walking in the emergency room with the woman's body as the cop continually tried to get him to stop.

The partially crowded emergency room quickly dispersed as Bay entered with his Momma because the cops were right behind him screaming obscenities. They tried to snatch the dying woman out of his arms, and then one of the cops shot him in the back several times. Jennifer put her hands on her head, and screamed, "What are y'all doing? He's trying to get his momma some help."

"Why isn't this nigger going down?" One of the officers screamed.

"He's meta," One of the other officers said, "Shoot him in his monkey head."

A cop ran into the emergency room with a shotgun, an extremely powerful one. He stood approximately six-foot-two with short, blond hair. He cocked the gun one time, held it to Bay's head, and pulled the trigger. The force of the blast caused him to stumble to the side, and Jennifer screamed when she saw what happened. The kid fell to one knee, and then a gaggle of cops entered the emergency room and started firing on the young man. He tried his best to keep the rounds from hitting his Momma. He screamed at the top of his lungs as the bullets hit him.

"Let me save my Momma," Bay screamed at the cops fired on him repeatedly.

"I don't give a fuck about your Moma," one of the cops screamed.

When the cops stopped firing, Bay was leaning over his mother's frail body and tried his best to protect her from the bullets. Several nurses and doctors charged into the emergency room and took the woman's body. "You're not human," one of the doctors said as he looked at the young kid.

"You don't want to be here, Bay said, "I'm killing everybody."

As Bay stood in the foyer, several other cops ran into the building and tackled the young kid. They beat him with their batons and tried to take him off his feet, but none of it worked. Several of the cops called him a nigger while others called him a monster. Jennifer trembled with fear at what she saw. Once the officers dogpiled him, the audible sound of blood hitting the floor scared her. She could see it pouring out of the cops' bodies onto the ground, and when Bay stood to his feet, he had a bloody lock blade that he used to slice the cop's stomachs open. There must have been eight cops in the foyer, and he started slicing their faces, and even when they tried to use their guns against him, it didn't stop him. Blood drenched the floor, Bay, and almost everything in the Foyer. It was unlike anything she had ever seen in her entire life. He looked like he took enjoyment in killing them as he bellowed in agony in the middle of the emergency room.

"I no longer care who comes for me," he said as he stood over the bloody bodies of the fallen cops. An electronic device came into the room and analyzed everything. It shot a ray across the room, and Jennifer didn't know what was happening. It hit Bay with the ray, and then went into the next room, and continued to analyze everything. "I spent my entire life fearing law enforcement. Now, they will fear me."

The entire hospital appeared to be in a frenzy as a team of doctors tried to save the dead cops, but they were too far gone. One of the nurses screamed, "He just kept stabbing them. They tried to shoot him, but the bullets didn't do anything. He was like Superman."

Jennifer didn't know what to make of the situation. She thought the cops deserved what they got because their behavior was reprehensible and disgusting. They shot into the car when he tried to tell them he had to get his Momma to the emergency room. And then when they saw him carrying his Momma into the hospital, they continued their assault on him.

Within five minutes of Bay leaving, nearly two hundred cops entered the hospital and searched for the young man. She listened to the officers screaming and crying for justice as the body of their comrades lay quietly on the emergency room floor. One of the nurses ran into the room, looked down at the bodies, and knelt beside him. The blood-drenched her knees, and she screamed, "Who did this? What monster did this? He's my husband."

Jennifer didn't feel anything for the woman at all. It was obvious that her husband was a worthless cop and a worthless human being. He acted in a manner unbecoming of a police officer, and that was the reason he was dead. She couldn't stand looking around at all the hypocrisy any longer, so she sat in the waiting room, called her father, and then waited. It didn't take long for one of the nurses to identify her as being with Bay.

The charge nurse pointed at Jennifer, and said, "Yes. She was with him. That girl right there."

A large black officer entered the waiting room and had a thick beard. He was a sloppy looking cop who didn't take pride in his uniform. His last name was Clark, at least that was what his nametag read. He was an overweight man with a bald head. The top portion of his head looked like the tip of an egg, a chocolate egg. "What did you see?" He asked.

"We were racing to get Bay's momma into the emergency room, and the cops fired into the vehicle. They shot his mom, and probably killed her." She paused for a moment, and asked, "Why aren't the cops helping the citizens of Freeland?"

"He must have done something to the cops," he said. He looked at her with a serious look on his face, and then asked, "But what did he do?"

"He didn't do anything to warrant the cops initial actions," she said, "He needed to get his momma to the emergency room, and the cops shot into the vehicle. They killed his momma."

"Then how did he kill all the cops in the emergency room if he was shot?" Officer Clark asked like he didn't believe her.

She laughed. "You stumbled across a metahuman with powers like Superman. You gave a black man a mission."

"What's his mission?" He asked.

"To kill every cop in Freeland," she said, "She looked at him with a look of fear on her face, and said, "He's going to kill all of you, and you won't be able to stop him."

"So, this makes you happy?" He asked.

"The only way to deal with governmental corruption is death," she said, "It's the only way to free Freeland."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Bay lay on top of a building in downtown Freeland and thought about Jennifer for a moment. He laughed because he thought the evening would end with them making out under the soft, night sky, but it didn't happen that way. He thought back to when he kidnapped her, and how foolish he was for doing that. He hated the way he felt on the inside, but he wanted the cops to pay for what they did to his Momma. They didn't have the right to shoot into his vehicle he thought as he watched the sky.

The police combed through the neighborhoods for him. Their lights bounced off the large buildings, and he could hear their radios echoing in the wind. With the bounty on his head, he knew if the cops could find a way to kill him, they would. He heard gunfire, cursing, and then more gunfire, and wondered who was doing the shooting. He was in the supine position on top of the police station, so he wondered if the cops shot an innocent person. He pulled out his cellphone and checked the internet for any information.

Honestly, he didn't expect the night to end with him killing a bunch of cops, but if they didn't pay with their blood for killing his Momma, then they'd just do it again. Freeland was primarily a black community, but nearly eighty-five percent of the cops were white. They didn't grow up in Freeland or attend Garfield High in their teen years, and from the way they treated the citizenry of the town, they were incapable of feeling empathy. On some levels, he thought tearing off the heads of cops would be a cathartic experience, but it wasn't. He just knew he needed to kill as many of them before they killed him. At the end of the day, their deaths were all that mattered to him.

He saw a silver dot race across the clear sky, and he didn't think it was an airplane. It was about eleven o'clock in the evening, and the festivities ended nearly an hour earlier when the cops put every black man in the park face down on the ground. During the raucous, the cops shot a small child in the back trying to run for his life. And when the cop shot the kid, he began screaming, "I'm fearing for my life." Bay looked at the event on his phone, and it was obvious the cop shot a child. He was dressed like Eddie Munster. When he took a closer look at the video, he realized the kid was Thong Ryan, the only son of Nick Ryan.

The cops canvased the entire town for the young cop killer, and the death of the eight cops made national news. The media talked about the cops' accomplishments while demeaning everything about the young teen, and when it came to the small child they shot, the news media reported him as being a thirty-year-old man. He looked at the news on his cellphone and shook his head in disbelief when they called him a hoodlum. One black man came on television, and said, "We need to call him what he really is. A nigger. All I can say is at least the cops killed that little 'BEEP' trying to run away. That'll teach the next one."

Bay played that section back several times, and read the man's name, "Abraham Dotson," he said under his breath. "You're a dead man, Abraham Dotson." As far as Bay was concerned, the media could call him a thug; it didn't bother him on any level. He didn't care what they said about him. But when it came to tarnishing a dead child's image, he wanted Abraham Dotson dead. He continued to watch the graying black man on the news dressed in his fancy, black business suit. The man then said, "He caused the death of his momma." When he heard that, he vowed to kill every reporter, every cop, and anybody who stood in his way. The media claimed he drove recklessly down the street, tried to run a cop off the road, and then the cop fired into the vehicle because he feared for his safety. It seemed the media used every possible opportunity to paint Bay as the bad guy when it was the cops who started it.

He thought the cops weren't in the neighborhood to police crime, but they were the main perpetrators of crime. For Freeland to truly be free, evil had to die. And any cop who fired into a car without provocation deserved death in his opinion. Repeatedly, the image of his dead Mom in his arms played in his mind. The cops of Freeland, rookie to veteran, would have to feel his pain, and once they felt it, he'd snap their necks. Looking up into the clear, black sky, he saw what looked like an alien spacecraft fly through the air, but he didn't know what to make of it. It appeared to move closer to the earth. He thought it was the Lantern, but at the end of the day, he didn't really care. He walked into the building from the roof, and when he saw an officer with some papers in his hands, he walked up behind him and snapped his neck with ease. He pulled the cop's gun out of its holster, moved one of the tiles in the ceiling, and crawled up in it.

Suddenly, he heard another cop scream, "Nate! Nate! What's wrong with you?" He heard other cops running down the hallway, and they were trying to revive the man. He slid out of the ceiling while about six cops tried to revive Nate.

"I think he's dead," Bay said as he walked up to them.

"How do you know?" Officer Lewis asked.

"'Cause I killed him," he said as he pulled out Nate's gun, and started firing at all the cops. They tried their best to move out the way of his fire, but he was accurate with the pistol. Within seconds, he had killed all the cops and then freed all the prisoners in the jailhouse. He put over three hundred criminals back on the street including a crazy man that kept calling him the devil.

He ran over to Martin Luther King Junior's park, sat on the merry-go-round, and watched several of the local gangsters screaming about the cops. "I talked to several other guys, and they said the cops are going crazy," he screamed, "That cop didn't have to kick me like that, man. That's some bullshit. And they killed Mister Ryan's boy all over what Bay did."

"I know," the other guy said. "If a cop shoots our kids in the back it's justified. They shot that kid, and acted like he was a thirty-year-old man."

Bay lay back on the merry-go-round and laughed for a moment. Not over the dead kid, but over the fact that he now killed a total of fourteen cops. The cold air moved into Freeland, but it didn't bother him. The frigid temperatures never gave him any problems. He heard the police sirens all over the town, and to be honest, he didn't think about hiding once. The cops were so busy harassing random black guys that they missed Bay as he stood quietly in plain sight. He felt all the dead black men the cops killed sanctified his crusade. He already made peace with death when the cop shot him in the forehead. Even though the bullet bounced off him, he knew they would find some way to end his life. He didn't care about that as long as he killed every cop who stopped him from saving his Mom. And in his mind, every cop on the Freeland Police Department deserved to die because they all supported a corrupt system.

When he sat up, one of the guys complaining looked over at him. He had a grimace on his face, and then said, "You're the nigga the cops want." Immediately, the hoodlum grabbed his cell phone and called the cops. "Yeah. Yeah. That cop killer is in Martin Luther King Junior Park."

"You're a snitch," Bay said. "When I'm finished with these cops, I'll gladly kill you too."

"This nigga is crazy," the man said, "You going to get yourself killed. boy."

"That's the plan," he said, "That's definitely the plan."

Moments later…

The cops flooded the streets around Martin Luther King Junior's Park, and he could hear the officers charging their weapons. He knew they meant business by the way they scowled at him from across the street. The blinking lights distracted him, but he stood his ground. All of a sudden, one of the cops lobbed a canister of smoke into the air, and it landed right next to Bay. The other black men ran through the park and the cops opened fire on them. Bay couldn't believe what he saw. The men screamed in agony as the bullets sliced through their fragile bodies. The cops didn't care that they killed the young men without provocation. Bay shook his head in disbelief because the cops had a picture of him, and knew they didn't have anything to do with killing cops. His picture had been all over the news for the last four hours. The men the cops shot didn't look anything like him. He was a pecan color while the men the police shot were very dark skinned. He assumed they took out the other guys for practice. As he sucked in the riot control gas, he leaped into the air, landed by the cop with the bullhorn, and punched him in the stomach with all his strength. The sting of the bullets bouncing off his skin caught his attention. They were firing wildly, and the bullets bounced off his chest and went into houses and businesses all up and down the street. He then realized he hit the cop so hard that the power of his swing split the cop's body into two pieces. He punched through the officer, and when his fist hit the patrol car, it flipped over on top of several other cops. They screamed from underneath the vehicle, so he leaped on top of the overturned car, and crushed the officers underneath it.

The rest of the cops fired on Bay with thousands of bullets, but it didn't do anything to him. The bullet rounds that didn't hit the young man went into the homes and businesses of the surrounding area, and people were screaming in the background. A woman came from around the corner with a shotgun, shot a cop in the face, and then the other cops opened fire on her. He ran up to another police cruiser, punched it, and it tumbled down the road. He began kicking and hitting all the cars in the street and caused them to do the same. He flipped cars like they were toys, and crushed as many cops as possible. "Die already!" He screamed.

One of the cops tried to jump into his patrol car, but Bay leaped in front of it. The cop charged the young man with the vehicle, but he leaped on the hood of the car and crushed it. He then leaped off of it, picked it up, and tossed it down the road. The cop fell out of the car, and then he walked up to the struggling officer and ripped off his head.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Jennifer sat in her room and listened to the news on her radio. She heard about the cops shooting the thirty-year-old man, and due to the news report, she wondered if he actually tried to attack the cops. Every now and again, she heard gunfire echoing throughout the city, and she wondered if the cops shot another citizen of Freeland. She saw the flash of blue and red lights of the police cruisers, all night long. When she walked through the house, her father said, "Don't you go anywhere tonight. That boy is on the loose, and the cops are shooting random people."

"Who did the cops kill?" She asked.

"Mister Ryan's son," he said with a grimace. He stood in the living room with his hands behind his back. The television was on in the background with a news segment about the kid. "They shot the boy in the back, and then claimed he feared for his life. Mister Ryan ran off with the kid, and nobody can find him."

"I'm so disgusted with the state of things in Freeland," she said. "We shouldn't have to live like this."

She wandered back into her bedroom, looked at her clock, and it was almost twelve o'clock in the morning. When she pulled back the blankets on her bed, she suddenly felt the pressure drop. Looking out her bedroom window, the entire sky was a blazing inferno. She ran out the front door, looked into the sky, and then said, "What in the hell?"

Later in the morning…

Jennifer found herself disobeying her father because she headed towards the area of town where she saw the fire in the sky. It only lasted for about two minutes, but she found it intriguing. When she stepped into the field, she noticed cops driving up and down the street with their sirens blaring, but didn't understand their methods. The drove to the edge of the field, turned around, and then raced down the road in the opposite direction. They almost seemed to move about erratically. She walked through the field full of grass and trees, and for a moment, she thought the area was free of vegetation because of the chemical waste. She walked for about five minutes, and then cracked her head on something, and fell out on the ground.

When she awoke, she was on a ship with the rocker from the Carnival looking directly at her. She didn't realize how tall he had grown since last year. "What happened?" She asked.

"You bumped your head," he said with a smile. "JJ Johnson," he said. He stuck out his right hand for her to shake it.

"I know you. It's me. Jennifer Pierce," she said as she shook his hand. "It's been awhile."

"Mister Pierce daughter!? Yeah. This is Eli Ga'Narian," he said, "She's from a planet called Moxia."

Jennifer waved, and said, "Yeah. I saw you at the Carnival. You were hanging with my uncle."

"That's right," she said, "He's going to be the next Green Lantern of this sector."

"Cool," she said with a smile.

"Your friend Bay was around here earlier, but he ran off," Eli said, "He's dangerous."

"He's just misunderstood," she said, "I know he killed some cops, but they shot his Momma."

"I think he's calm now," JJ said, "His Mom survived the gunshot wound. I told Bay, but he ran off."

"You know Bay?" Jennifer asked.

JJ laughed. "Yeah," he said.

"I better get out of here. My father will be looking for me," she said, "I can't believe all of the craziness happening tonight. The cops killed Mister Ryan's son."

"He's okay," JJ said, "He was merely grazed by the bullet."

"Then why is everybody saying he's dead?" She asked.

"To sell content," he said, "A dead black kid brings in more money than alive one." He paused for a moment, and then said, "Anyway, I'll walk you home."

"That's okay," she said with a half smile, "It's not that far."

He smiled. "Eli Ga'Narian, can you walk her home?" He asked.

"Yes," she said."

"Wait? What was that fire?" Jennifer asked.

"What fire?" JJ asked.

"It was a huge fire over this field. Oh, and where did all the trees and grass come from?" She asked.

"It's alien tech," Eli said. "I used my tech to clean up the waste in the area."

On the way home…

"You really didn't have to walk me home," she said with an uncomfortable smile. "I can take care of myself."

"There's civil unrest happening in this town," she said, "It wouldn't be right to let you go back alone. Besides, you have an injury."

"I feel great," she said.

"Well. That's because JJ used a device that healed you," she said.

Jennifer watched the Lantern as she stood next to her front porch. Suddenly, some warm air swept across the entire area, and then when she looked up, she saw an alien spacecraft. It was about a mile from her house, but she could actually see the ship.

"Dear God," Jennifer said with a grimace. "What the hell is that?" She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The alien ship was massive, and she could see the cannons on the front of the vessel.

"This isn't good, child," Eli said, "It's a Lord's ship."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Earlier in the day…

Peppermint slept in her hospital bed while JJ slept on a chair next to the bed, and Vera was in a sleeping bag next to JJ's chair. Somebody fired a pistol several times, and it caused the young teen, JJ, to open his eyes.

"Peppermint, did you hear that?" He asked.

"Yeah," she said. "Somebody fired a gun."

The baby lay in a crib on the other side of Peppermint's bed, and then when he heard the gunfire again, he placed a forcefield around the entire room. He stood to his feet wearing only his pants bottoms and no shirt. He used his godlike powers to help him understand the situation at hand. Orion-the palm computer-exited out of his backpack, traveled down the hallway to evaluated the problem. When it returned, he said, "A young, African American teenager brought his dying mother into the hospital, and the cops attacked him. He's some kind of metahuman because the bullets bounced off his skin. He killed at least eight cops, and then fled the scene."

"That's bad," JJ said. "They'll shoot every black kid they see on the street because of this."

"It's worse than that," Orion said. "Don't get me wrong! Killing kids on the street is bad too."

"What's worse than killing innocent kids?" Vera asked.

"The boy's mom is Doctor Gina Nelson," he said, "She's working on some genetically enhanced plants that will pave the way for a cure for cancer in thirty years. Her revolutionary crops will save billions of lives throughout the galaxy. She's about to die, and hasn't started her life-saving research."

JJ looked at Orion for a moment, and said, "Are we not on the same timeline, Orion?"

"I don't think so," he said, "Something has caused us to skew off course."

The young teenager stood in the middle of his fiancee's hospital room and thought for a moment. Peppermint looked over at him, and said, "You can't let her die."

"I know, but I'm frustrated about this," he said with a grimace. "Orion, can you detect where time veered off course?"

"It happened when Perilous Pearl traveled back in time," she said, "It looks like she didn't return to the future. She lives right here in Freeland, works at Downing Chemical, and made some kind of gamma cannon that has radiated parts of Freeland."

"But the cancers go back for nearly twenty years according to the report I read on the contamination," he said.

"She traveled back in time nearly thirty years," Orion said. "I surmise she traveled further back in time, so the weapon would be finalized by the year twenty-seventy when the Destroyer unites the Dark Corridor of Planets. The worlds who stand with the Green Lantern Corp suffer in the unification."

Vera walked over to the corner of the room where JJ kept a small, black suitcase with a piece of futuristic equipment. It was a powerful device that could restore life, heal the sick, and work many wonders. He received the instrument from the Green Witch to cure Vera of her ailments. She handed the case to him, and said, "Freeland is a crazy place. The sooner we leave the better."

"I know," he said. JJ walked over to his fiancee and kissed her softly on the lips. He looked back at Vera, and said, "Please, keep an eye on Peppermint, Vera."

When JJ walked into the hallway with the black suitcase, one of the cops pulled a gun on him, and said, "What do you have in the case, boy?"

The young, gothic kid looked at him, and said, "It's of no importance to you." His voice was calm, and when he spoke to the cop, he did so from a place of complete control. The cop approached him menacing, and JJ tunneled into the cop's mind with telepathic precision and made him forget that he ever saw him. He walked past him without his knowledge. When he came to an overweight nurse, he asked her, "Where's Gina Nelson?"

"Are you family?" She asked. "Only family members are allowed to visit the emergency room when we're under a code red."

"Yes," he said, "She's my aunt."

"Oh dear. She passed a few minutes after arrival to the emergency room," she said with a grimace. JJ looked into her mind and saw that the woman's body was in room number six. He erased her memory of his presence, and then walked past her, down the hallway, and came into Gina's room. Quickly, he realized that she suffered from cancer, and he noticed that she had a bullet wound in the back. He placed his hands on her body, and his aura engulfed her. The bullet slid out of her back, fell onto the floor, and then he released her from his field. He pulled up her blouse, exposed her bare stomach, and she looked malnourished. He placed the device on her belly and a red light appeared on the face of the instrument. He waited for a few minutes, and then when the light turned a beautiful green, he knew it was ready.

"Narcotizing the patient," the computer said calmly. He sat down in the chair next to her bed, and then after twenty minutes, he heard her take a breath. If he waited longer than three days to restore her life, it wouldn't work. "Restoration complete. Cancer eradicated. The human is viable." Quickly, he removed the device from her stomach and pulled out another instrument that he placed on her head.

"Doctor Nelson, this device will improve your brain function," he said with a smile. Placing the device on her head, it immediately began rewiring her mental processes so she would be able to cope with the trauma she went through during her cancer treatment. It took an additional ten minutes to restore her mental prowess.

She sat up on the bed, and asked, "Was I dead?"

"Yes," he said with a grimace. He looked at her for a moment, and then his palm computer entered the room.

"What's that?" She asked.

"I'm Orion, Doctor Nelson," she said, "I"m a robot from sixty years in the future. You need to move from your farmhouse immediately. The place is toxic due to Downing Chemical improperly dumping waste in the area."

"Who can afford that?" She asked. "If the city moves the contamination, then life will improve for everybody in the area."

"That's true," JJ said.

"There's been a significant change in the timeline. In the original timeline, you didn't die until twenty-seventy," Orion said, "Your research leads to future cures for cancers."

She looked around the room for a moment and became somewhat frantic. "Where's Bay?" She asked. "I need my sons."

Orion flew over to the window, and hundreds of cop cars patrolled the area. "Your son killed eight cops that I know of," she said, "He's using his metahuman powers to revenge your death."

"Dear God," she said. "This is bad."

"You'll need to stop him before he kills more people," JJ said, "If you can't stop him, then I'll have to stop him. It's not going to turn out well if I have to get involved."

Orion flew up to her, and said, "There's a weapon being built in Downing Chemical, The deadline to put a stop to its construction is fast approaching. Do you know about this instrument of destruction?"

"A weapon? I don't know of any such device," she said, "We're working on an instrument that can terraform a planet, but it's far from ready."

Orion flew over to JJ, and said, "Earth didn't have terraforming tech. In fact, they didn't have the ability for intergalactic space flight."

"This is troublesome," JJ said, "We might have to destroy Downing Chemical."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

He donned his Vulcan uniform, a sleek black uniform with a black mask that slid over his face. In the middle of his chest was a white V that was the first initial of his name. He took to the skies. Since he returned from his homeworld, he was stronger and faster than ever, and almost at the speed of light, he traveled around Freeland with Orion flying just as fast as him. It was now around two o'clock in the morning, and the Vulcan knew the Lord's ship had entered Earth's atmosphere. When he looked down over Jefferson's house, he saw Eli Ga'Narian and Jennifer standing in front of a Lord female. Eli had her ring hand raised, but the Lord hadn't assumed a fighting stance at all. She stood approximately sixty-nine inches, pleasing to the eyes, and with tenebrous, mahogany skin. For some reason, he didn't immediately notice the black veil over her face, the strength enhancement vest, and arm bracelets from Paradise Island. Orion told him about the Golden Knight's uniform, and now that he saw one up close, he could barely believe it. When he landed in front of her, he looked over at Jennifer and Eli, and then at the Lord. Eli Ga'Narian was about to attack, and the Vulcan pulled her ring off with his telekinesis. It happened so fast that Eli didn't notice it at first. She looked down at her ring hand and scowled.

"Why did you do that, Vulcan?" Eli asked. "She's from the Sinestro Corp! They're killers!"

"I'm Princess McGinnis," she said with a calmness. "In the future, I work for the Vulcan, so you can see why I'm here. Sir, I'm the Sixth." She paused for a moment, and then looked at the spacecraft. "My uncle is already here I see." She reached out her hand to the Vulcan, and he kissed it. None of the other people had the ability to touch a being from the planet of Decay except for the Great Mother, Ptah, and Luciferous. You sent me back through time to tell you not to kill Prince Carious. This moment causes a huge ripple in space and time. He plays a major role in the future of Decay's and Gorgonia's relationship."

"Orion, authenticate her," Vulcan ordered, "I want to make sure she's not an imposter."

"It's Princess Esha Carious-McGinnis," Orion said, "The Destroyer's sixth wife and a one-star general in the Golden Knights."

"Thank you, Orion," Esha said, "Your replacement isn't as nice as you."

"But she's a freaking Yellow Lantern," Eli screamed. "When do Green Lanterns socialize with Yellow Lanterns? Come on!"

"So are you, Eli Ga'Narian! You're the yellowest Yellow Lantern in the Lantern Corp. At least in the future," Orion said, "You think working on your telekinesis was because of happenstance? We're preparing you for the future. You're the Deputy Commander of the Golden Knights Academy, and train future Yellow Lanterns with the values of Five Star General McGinnis."

"I would never wear yellow," she said, "I'm a Green Lantern to my core."

"The reason I didn't take a fighting stance against you, Eli, is because I consider you my sister," she said. "In sixty years, we'll fight together as Golden Knights against evils that try to annihilate all life. The Vulcan is currently the four-star of the Golden Knights and runs the Federation of Yellow Lanterns. General T'Nead commands the Golden Knights Academy."

"I only knew about it because of Orion," the Vulcan said, "I have to train you, Eli, because the mind wars have already started. It's the reason Moxia is in a war. I don't necessarily care about your Lantern affiliation because right now my main concern is for the betterment of Moxia."

Eli shook her head in disbelief. The Vulcan looked at her with a grimace, and then he watched Princess Esha for a moment. She pulled out another Brain Enhancer and gave it to the Vulcan. She then spoke to him telepathically. "I'm here on your orders, sir. In addition, this Brain Device is for Jennifer. Her powers are erratic, and we don't have time for her to develop her skills naturally," she said telepathically. "You must bring her powers online with this instrument."

"What role does she play in the future?" The Vulcan asked telepathically.

"She's the grandmother of the Destroyer," she said, "Nobody needs to know this." Immediately, the Vulcan fell to the ground from hearing the news. He didn't know the bloodline of the Destroyer. In the past, when he was born, he usually searched out his cosmic family once the ring of the Destroyer came to him. "What's wrong with you?" She asked.

"You could've asked me to sit down first before you told me this," he said telepathically, "I've been standing with the grandmother of the destroyer this hold time. This means her daughter dies during birth."

"Yes," she said telepathically, "But you have the rejuvenation modules to bring her back and to erase her memory. You now have control, and can watch his birth closely. Vera Reese must raise the child to adulthood. It's the only way to save the human race. Jennifer's latent metahuman gene will allow for the Destroyer to live in human form," she said, "Use this device to stabilize her abilities so she can use them." She pointed to his hand, and the ring flew from the Vulcan's hand to Eli's hand. She then said, "I must return to my time. Eli, train hard because you have to bring the Moxian war to a close. If Moxia isn't stabilized, then we won't be able to form the Federation of Yellow Lanterns."

Princess Carious-McGinnis flew away, and then the Vulcan and Eli watched the ominous looking Decay ship hovering about a mile down the street. He tried to ascertain what the Decayan planned on doing while violating several galactic laws. He looked down at the small case, pulled out the Brain Enhancer, and then said, "Okay, Jennifer. Let's do this?"

"Do what?" She asked with a grimace. "What's going on with that?"

"You're a metahuman," he said, "You have powers that are trying to surface, but you don't know how to control them. There's nothing deadlier than a metahuman without the ability to control her powers. I'm going to bring all your powers online with this device, and then we can start your training."

"Will it hurt?" She asked with a scowl.

"It will hurt a lot worse if you accidentally kill somebody because you can't control your powers," he said. He walked her over to the front porch, and then she laid back on the ground. "But our training sessions will hurt like no tomorrow." He set the device on her forehead and began programming it. She looked like she was going to fall asleep as he pressed several buttons on the face of the device.

"Preparing the brain for programming," the Brain Enhancer said. A series of red lights started blinking randomly, and then when one of the sections of her brain came online, one of the lights associated with that particular region of the brain would turn green. "Enhancing the frontal lobe," the computer said. "Please standby."

"This is going to take a while," the Vulcan said.

"I can tell," Eli said, "This device is definitely Doraxian tech."

"Something is happening with the Decayan vessel," Orion said.

"Do a quick recon of the vessel, Orion. Remain in invisibility mode," he said, "I don't have a full understanding of all the alien tech, and I can't risk losing you." Orion flew towards the vessel and then went into cloaking mode.

"You care about Orion a lot," Eli said, "Even more than the Doraxains care about their palm computers."

"She's like family," he said. "Veo and Orion take care of Peppermint and me. They help us become better at what we do."

"I understand," she said, "My supervisor is Doraxian. His palm computer isn't as sophisticated as yours, but it is helpful."

After about thirty minutes of upgrading Jennifer's brain, Orion flew back over to the Vulcan. "Trouble," she said.

"What?" The Vulcan asked.

"Some kind of spider-bots leaped off the vessel, and started combing through the neighborhoods."

The Vulcan looked over at the alien vessel and could see the robotic spiders leaping off the alien ship. "Disable the robots, Eli," he said, "They're looking for the Dars, and they must be protected at all cost."

"On it," she said as she took off into the sky.

"Orion, give her some backup," he said, "We have to stop these bots before they gather any information."

"Permission to assume war mode?" Orion asked.

"Permission granted. Only disable the bots, but don't hurt the Decayan on the ship. If I sent a Golden Knight to warn us, then the alien must play a major role."

"Yes, sir," she said.

"Finished with enhancing the metahuman," the Brain Enhancer said. Quickly, the Vulcan removed the device from her head. When she stood to her feet, she turned into pure light. The entire area lit up because of Jennifer's glow, and it was of a golden hue.

"I feel so strong," she said as she looked down at her hands. The golden, bright light traveled up and down her svelte frame, and she was like an electrical goddess. "I feel energized!"

"Try to fly," he said calmly. "It might be hard at first, but I think you can do it." A hint of man's cologne caused the Vulcan to pause, and he sensed another presence in the area. He glanced around for a moment, but didn't see anybody with his eyes, but sensed the individual with his mind.

"Fly? There's no way I can fly," she said with a smile.

Without warning, he saw a blue lightning bolt fly across the yard, but he caught it with his right hand. "It's Black Lightning!" The electrical charge dissipated in his fist. The man in the blue and black glowing uniform stood directly in front of him, but he had some kind of facial scrambler in his goggles that obscured his identity. The only reason he knew it was Jefferson Pierce was that he could sense his mind. "Jennifer, go into the house," the Vulcan said. "You don't need to see this." Backing away, she ran up the stairs, into the house, and then looked out the window. "Your child is nosey."

"My child? What are you saying?" Black Lightning said with an uncomfortable laugh.

"There's no reason for all the secrecy with me," he said, "Eventually, I will erase all knowledge of me from your mind, Jennifer's mind, and John's mind," he said as he pulled off his hood. "It's the only way I can keep everybody safe."

"JJ!" Black Lightning exclaimed. "You're the Vulcan?" He laughed. "I knew it!"

"Oh, bullshit," he said, "You really thought it was me?"

"Yeah," he said.

He placed his mask back on his head, and said, "Jennifer has the metahuman gene. I've turned it on and enhanced her brain so she can use it without hurting people.

"Without my permission?" He asked.

"Heroes rarely ask for permission, but she already had a few uncontrolled accidents with her powers. Mister Ryan informed me that she accidentally had an electrical outburst," the Vulcan said. He paused for a moment, and then said, "I fear our world is changing faster than we can keep up. We have Supermen, gods, aliens, and clones in our world. We have to prepare to protect this planet if we want to keep it. Certain members of the UN have kept me from forming the new Justice Corp. It's the only way we can have an organization and a global think tank that can ensure we protect all future metahumans. Give me two weeks with your daughter so I can train her the right way?"

"Oh my god! What the hell is that?" He asked as he looked up at the alien vessel.

"I have it under control," he said, "Just agree to let me train your daughter for now?"

"You better not hurt her," he said.

"If you don't let me train her, she'll hurt others," the Vulcan said, "None of us want that."

When Black Lightning left, he sent a telepathic message to Jennifer to come out the house. It was in the early morning hours, and the entire city was still dealing with the aftermath of Bay Nelson. He held Jennifer around the waist and then took off with her into the air. When he took off at superspeed, it caused Jennifer to throw up in mid-air. They flew so far above the city that everything on the ground looked like tiny dots. A series of police cars raced back and forth down the road. It looked like the cops drove from one end of the city to the other end of the city, and then when the ran out of the road, they turned around and did the same thing except in the reverse direction.

'You nasty," the Vulcan said. "Now, try to control your emotions."

"This is scary, though," she said. She looked down at the ground, closed her eyes, and the Vulcan could feel her trembling in his arms. He moved away from her while she continued to float in the sky, but she didn't appear to notice. Keeping her eyes closed, the Vulcan began laughing out loud. "What?"

"I'm way over here," he said. She opened her eyes, and then the electrical goddess twirled haphazardly to the ground. It was extremely dark out, but he could see her because of his enhanced vision. As she fell towards the earth, the Vulcan used his telekinesis to fling her a mile into the sky. He watched her fall again, and then screamed, "You need to try to fly, Jennifer. You look like a bolt of lightning about to crash into the ground." When she was about one hundred feet from the surface, he used his mind to toss her into the air again, but this time, he flung her nearly three miles into the air. Grabbing her around the waist, she flew with him while he was in complete control. He let her go while he pulled her with a telekinetic tether for about a thousand miles. He then quit using his abilities to help her fly, and she flew nearly another thousand miles without his help.

"This is so fun," she said, "I can do this all day."

"It's all you," he said, "You're super trooping this." They hovered over Freeland, about a mile from the alien vessel, and watched the Lantern eradicate the robots. "I'm over two million years old in this universe."

"What does that mean?" She asked.

"I came to this world when my universe collapsed on itself," he said, "I came here with the Great Mother, the Oans, and a few other gods. We had a Great War a long long time ago. Do you know what defeated Cronus-Zeus? "

"What?" She asked as she hovered beside him.

He held out his hand, formed a lightning bolt, and then threw it into the sky. "Our ability to wield electricity sets us apart."

"But you seem to have a lot more powers," she said.

"I do," he said, "But my most cherish power is the ability to control electricity." He held both of his hands out, and then the clouds moved over Freeland. The cops were still driving up and down the street at four o'clock in the morning. They came to the corner of the large field, and then turned back around, and flew across town. Lightning bolts shot across the night sky and lit up everything. A strong wind moved into the town, and then it began raining. Eli flew up into the air in a spin.

"This feels good," she said.

"You can control the weather?" Jennifer asked.

"Yeah," he said as he floated towards the alien vessel. "Now, I'm going to ask this guy to leave."

"That's not a good idea," Eli said, "He has a positronic ray in that ship. You're not that badass."

"Yeah yeah," he said as he descended to where the ship hovered over the city. He stood directly in front of the large vessel, held out his hands, and then the occupant charged up his cannon. The weapon protruded from the front of the ship, and the young Vulcan laughed for a moment. "Why do I laugh in the face of danger?" The Vulcan didn't flinch at the weapon pointed at him. With a wave of his right hand, the weapon went back into the ship. "Come out and meet me, Lord," he said with a calm disposition. "I'm the Vulcan."

Suddenly, the alien flew out of the ship with some force. It appeared he had on a suit with rockets in the boots. He knew exactly why the alien had a shield over his tenebrous face. The shield protected him from the eyes of the Gorgons. The Vulcan watched his comrades across the way looking at him. When the alien stood in front of him, he almost thought he recognized the pungent odor. Everybody had a distinct body stench, but the Lord's odor felt like a threat.

"I'll rot you from inside out," the alien said with a grimace. "I'm Prince Kane Carious."

The Vulcan gave him a scowl, but it wasn't noticeable in his mask. He then said, "I'll rot you from inside out. I'm the Vulcan." The Lord circled the young hero like he was trying to size him up for a moment, but it didn't bother the Vulcan at all. "I've been ordered not to kill you."

Prince Kane Carious laughed for a moment, and then said, "You're but a weakling."

The Vulcan laughed with the alien, and then he laughed harder and harder. Prince Kane stopped laughing, and when he did, the Vulcan grabbed him, ripped off his mask, and stuck his face against the alien's face. He tried to pull away from the teen, but he wouldn't let him. "Rot me if you can," the Vulcan said loudly. When he let go of the alien, the Prince stumbled backward, pulled out his weapon, and shot the Vulcan in the chest. It looked like the young man's body went completely limp.

"You're not as powerful as you think," the alien said out loud.

"Think? I know I'm a badass," the Vulcan said as he stood back up. "I want to test your mettle." The Vulcan pulled off his suit, and the rain poured on top of the two combatants. The sun had begun to rise behind the thick clouds. The Lord pulled off his uniform, and it was two half-naked bodies battling it out. The Lord struck the young man in the stomach, and it knocked him clear across Freeland.

"Oh my god that fucking hurt," he said, "He hits like Kara." He flew back across Freeland struck the Lord with a double fist in the chest, and he flew nearly fifteen miles in the other direction.

"You two are going to kill each other," Eli said as she looked from a distance.

It took nearly ten minutes for the Lord to return, and when he did, he was out of breath. "My belt enhances my abilities, but you've mortally wounded me." The Lord tumbled to the ground, and then the young teen captured him in a telekinetic field.

"Orion, bring me my ship," the Vulcan screamed. The black ship raced across the sky, and within seconds, it appeared in front of the Vulcan. He stood over the Lord as the grass around him decayed. It turned brown in front of his face because the creature rotted everything he touched. He reached into his car, grabbed the black suitcase, pulled out the device, and placed it on the Prince's stomach. "Hold on Kane."

When he placed the instrument across the man's stomach. "Recalibrating for Decayan physiology. Narcotizing patient," the device said. "Restructuring chest cavity." It took about fifteen minutes for the device to fix the alien. Eli placed a protective shield over the Vulcans head while he worked on the dying Decayan. After the fifteen minutes, the alien climbed to his feet.

"Why didn't you let me die?" He asked.

"Because it wouldn't be in the best interest of Decay and Gorgonia to do so," he said, "I need you to return to your world, and discuss how you plan on returning Gorgonia back to the Gorgons."

"That's not going to happen," he said.

"It'll happen," the Vulcan said, "That's why I'm not ending your life."

"You think my father King Carious would give up Gorgonia?" He asked.

"No," Orion said as she came up from behind the Vulcan. "He's next in line to the throne."

"That's right," he said.

"Leave Earth," The Vulcan said.

"I can't," he said, "My funnel drive isn't working right. I damaged it about two weeks ago when a radioactive flare hit my ship."

"Orion, what do you know about his ship?" He asked.

"The funnel drive probably has a massive leak at its core," she said, "A mercury poxy would fix that. You can charge the core with your powers."

"Prince Kane, earthlings aren't used to alien ships," he said, "Can you at least hideout until I call on you. I have some resources to fix your ship."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Metropolis…

For nearly four days, Bay wandered the wooded regions of Metropolis and tried his best to hide from the cops. He stood in the middle of the woods and watched some deer frolicking near his position. He was so hungry that he didn't know what to do. The harsh hills and long grass tore up his shoes, and by the time he wandered into the city, he was nearly barefoot. He had thought about chasing down one of the small animals and feasting on it, but he had too much on his mind to function correctly. He passed several deer racing around the badlands but chose not to kill one. It would be far too much meat for one person, and he hated wasting any of it. Even without a gun, he had the ability to throw a rock fast and hard enough to kill a deer. He saw two jackrabbits sitting by an old, dying oak tree. He watched them closely. Loose rocks lay all over the ground, but he didn't want to make any sudden moves. He picked up one good sized rock. Maybe he stood forty feet from the two hairs, the left foot in front of the right foot as if he had complete control over the situation. When he threw the rock, it was with more force than shooting it out of the barrel of a gun. It was with so much force that his arm made a cracking sound. When the rock sliced one of the rabbit's heads off, it blew a massive hole in the old, oak tree. Wood shot out the back of the wooden structure, and the wind pushed it over onto the ground. Quickly, Bay picked up the trunk, tossed it to the side, and retrieved his winnings. He pulled out his multipurpose knife, skinned the small animal, and then looked over at the old, oak tree lying on its side. He laid the carcass in some grass so dirt wouldn't get on it. He beat the knocked over tree with his fist-chiseling away as much wood as possible for kindling. Once he made enough wood chips for catching fire easily, he changed his striking style and took off huge chunks of dried wood from the broken tree. It looked like the entire area was raining wooden chips as he hammered the tree trunk with his fist. After that, he dug a massive hole in the ground because he didn't want anybody detecting the fire he planned on making. He grabbed chunks of dirt out of the ground with his bare hands, and then he used his hands like a shovel. The soft ground allowed for easy digging.

Picking up a fist full of wood chips, he rubbed them together in his hands. The speed and force of the rubbing ignited a fire. It didn't take him long to start a good blaze, and he could feel the heat shooting up from the deep pit he built. He stuck a stick through the body of the rabbit's carcass, placed it in the pit, and cooked the flesh rotisserie style.

The aroma permeated throughout the entire area, but with the way he dug the hole, the fire was concealed from any possible onlookers. He loved the way the meat popped and sizzled. After about two hours, the rabbit was done. The meat nearly fell off the bones, but he didn't have time to enjoy it. He tore into the legs, then the back, and consumed it quickly. He needed it for the protein and nothing else, but he felt good about the catch.

Main Street Metropolis...

He stood on the corner of Main Street in Metropolis, panhandled for money, and ended up making two hundred dollars in only a few hours. He had about two thousand dollars left from his drug sells, but he knew the money would go fast in the big city. The traffic flowed freely in Metropolis, especially on Main Street. He didn't see any signs of the boy scout, and as long as he didn't see him, he felt safe. He had enough money for a cheap, out-of-the-way hotel room, but he knew he needed a steady source of income. It had one queen sized bed in it that had the right amount of softness to it. He liked an old fashion, well-made soft bed, the kind he had at home. He purchased a pack of razors, a hand mirror, and some shaving cream. He splattered a good glob of the shaving cream on his head and began to shave off his hair. It was a tedious process, but he did what he had to do for survival.

After shaving off all his hair, he looked almost unrecognizable to himself. His head had never been that smooth in his life, and it scared him on some levels. He always had a huge bush on his head, but not now. In any case, he didn't look anything like the picture circulating about him on television. His ninth grade photo was all over the news, and somebody darkened it to make him look like a demon. The media talked about how he killed cops, and then they talked about how the metahuman registry would have prevented him from killing cops. Unfortunately, they didn't mention one word about the reason he attacked the police or about how the cops fired into his vehicle unprovoked. It was upsetting.

For the first day, he watched television and said that he was headed to Little African in National City. He didn't know why they thought that, but it was one of the largest, black enclaves outside of Atlanta, Georgia. It was almost as if somebody fed them misinformation about Little Africa, but he didn't mind as long as they didn't head to Metropolis.

He was a little upset, a little angry at JJ because he wanted him to leave the planet, but he didn't desire to do that. But at the same time, he knew the cops would find a way to kill him or imprison him, and he didn't agree with any of that. After he laid his head on the pillow, he thought about Randy Rush, the black newscaster for Action News Four. He was the one that called him a nigger on the news, and the entire time he wandered in the woods, he thought about ripping his head off. Every day he struggled with just going to school, doing homework, and just being a kid, but with the racism and police harassment added to black life, it made the world a lot harder than it should have been for a black kid.

After hours of pain and frustration from the way the media excoriated his image, he turned it to Action News Four, watched Randy Rush on the anchor desk, and he was nothing more than a conservative mouthpiece. He said all the annoying things about black in America like being lazy, being ignorant, and black on black crime. His belittling of black Americans was how he paid the bills.

"What kind of mother gives her son a godforsaken name like Bay in the first place?" Randy asked as he shuffled his papers. He was a dark-skinned black guy, with black rimmed glasses, and well built. He played football for the National City War Dogs about ten years earlier. He lived in Metro Heights, an upscale section of the city where the wealthiest members of the society lived. "That's a kid I wish mother nature would've aborted." Bay grabbed the remote control, and then the reporter said, "Meanwhile, Freeland is at a possible loss of forty million dollars because they can't find any contamination from Downing Chemical Plant." He laughed. "Just looking for another handout if you ask me."

At the end of the broadcast, Action News Four mentioned they were looking for some fresh, young interns, and he immediately thought he'd fill out an application. Bay spent a full week on the corner panhandling-making enough money to buy two business suits, shoes, and other amenities he needed to look presentable for work. He filled out his application online at the local, Metropolis Library, and while he was there, he met a pecan colored girl named Daisy Killjoy. She came to the library daily. Somehow he struck up a rapport with her but didn't know why. Her soft disposition, little laugh, big eyes, and crooked smile gave her a certain kind of innocents that he didn't want to taint. He was nothing more than the dregs of society now, the lowest of the low, and to desire, a beautiful, mahogany girl liked the one who sat across from him at the library was an abomination, an unclean act.

"Where are you from?" Daisy asked in her soft, high pitched voice. She was refined, and nothing like the girls back in the slums. She spoke without any gaucherie in her mannerisms, but he knew she had to have a little.

"Little Africa," he said. He looked down at his book like he wanted to read it, but he actually thought, _how many lies will I tell this time_. He didn't want to lie to her, but at some point, she would look at him, and see Bay Nelson, the cop killer.

"What's your name?" She asked. Her kind eyes were so big and round that it made her look like an innocent babe.

"TJ Jones," he said with an awkward smile. He actually thought, _where in the hell did I find that name_? He looked down at the book he was reading, and on the back cover, it had the author's name, "TJ Jones." He laughed for a moment, and then thought, _I have no imagination_.

She slid a piece of paper across the table, and said, "I don't mean to be so forward, but you have a way about you. You're interesting to me." She smiled for a moment, looked down at her hands, and then said, "I mean if you don't mind calling me, then here's my number."

"I don't mind," he said with a soft smile. "I'll give you a holler."

For nearly fourteen hours a day for two, long weeks, Bay studied everything he could about journalism. He learned the necessary qualities of being a good journalist-curiosity, honestly, and heart. One thing he knew for sure: he had to find a way into the News Action Four station to confront Randy Rush. But he didn't want to just confront the man but learn what made him into a self-hating fool in the first place. He had money, wealth, and fame, but what turned him against his people was the question on his mind.

"TJ, the spring is upon us," Daisy said with a smile. "I was wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner?"

He looked up from his reading material, thought about what she asked, and then said, "Yes. I'd like that." The last time he had a good, home-cooked meal was nearly six years earlier before cancer took his father's life. It was some fried chicken, mash potatoes, gravy, and green beans. It was crazy that he remembered the last time he ate with his Momma at the dinner table. For the last five years, he watched cancer quickly cripple the woman who raised him, and it was a pain that he wouldn't wish upon any person. Even though JJ told him that his mother was doing well and cancer free, the thought of her being well and cancer free was too big of a miracle to believe. When cancer invaded every cell in the human body, the idea of being cancer free was a miracle. He didn't believe in miracles, so he didn't believe JJ.

But at the same time, he saw what the rocker did in that field. He saw him pick up tons of dirt, blackened the sky, separate the chemicals, and then burn the rest of the chemicals out of the dirt. He then watched him as he turned a dirt pile into an area full of trees and grass. It all happened in a matter of minutes. If he could do that, then maybe his Momma was alive. JJ displayed an incredible calmness-incredible talent, incredible heart, and incredible understanding, and from what he could tell, he was the kind of teenager he admired.

It was about eight o'clock in the morning, and when Bay submitted an application to Action News Four, he put his name down as TJ Jones. He didn't expect a callback, but they did call him back. He walked into the Action News building on Main Street, to the fourth floor, and Mister Shon Cooper interviewed him for the intern position. The questions were basic. "Can you work Photoshop? Can you work Gimp? Can you work film editing software?" He knew how to do all those things, and wanted the opportunity to learn more.

"Shoot, your application is at the very top," he said with a smile, "You're an extremely talented young man. All we need from you is a birth certificate."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

JJ walked out of J'onn's office with a grimace on his face. The atmosphere in the DEO was thick with resentment, and his mentor continued to question him about his handling of the cop killer in Freeland. Kara sat outside the door on the floor, and when he walked by her, she hopped up, placed her left hand on his right shoulder, and then asked, "What happened in Freeland? How did twenty something cops die with you in the same damn town? Couldn't you have stopped it with a mere thought?"

He looked at her for a moment with a befuddled look on his face. From the way she placed her hands on her hips, she had an attitude about her that he didn't like. Eventually, he said, "I don't will my powers onto others," he said with a grimace. "Rarely, and let me emphasize that I do not engage in the trivial. I'm more worried about the alien vessel than some cop killer because if the Decayans kill the Dars, then it's going to cause a rift throughout the Dark Corridor. Earth isn't immune."

"Over twenty cops died, JJ,' she snapped, "How did one human teenager kill over twenty cops? What kind of metahuman was this kid that he could run through twenty cops so easily?"

"He's not meta," he said, "He's imbued with an ancient magic passed down from his ancestors."

"You know that, but you didn't stop him," she said matter of factly. "You've obviously been doing a lot of rogue stuff lately, JJ. Don't think I haven't noticed."

"That's bull, Kara," he said, "I know exactly where you're going with this. So, let me make something clear: Lena's Red Raider uniform was designed for one thing and one thing only," he snapped. Kara looked down at the ground for a minute, and then he said, "Look at me." With a frown, she looked up at him for a second, and then he said calmly, "You're my mentor. You're like my big sister. That damn Red Raider uniform was designed to kill you. When I killed her, I did so to protect you. Once I gave her the potion, I quickly brought her back to life, erased her memory, and now she's dating James." He paused for a moment and began walking down the hallway. Without looking at her, he said, "I've always had your back, Kara. Do you have mine?"

Peppermint was on the roof with Orion, Vera, and the car, and when JJ landed on the roof, he said, "Let's go." He walked over to the passenger seat, Vera hopped in the back seat, and the baby was in the car seat next to her. Peppermint was driving, and Orion was mounted on the console. "You're agitated," Orion said.

Peppermint drank a green tea shake, and then set the cup down in the middle console. He picked it up, took a swig, and then said, "J'onn and Kara attacked me over all the deaths in Freeland. They didn't say anything about the cop shooting Thong."

"Well, he is alive," Peppermint said.

"That's not the point," JJ replied, "It's the act of shooting the kid in the back that upsets me."

"I think they're upset with you because you didn't save one cop," Vera said from the backseat. "Oh, and you had those cops racing back and forth across the city all night. When they ran out of gas in their vehicles, they continued running up and down the streets for hours."

"Honest mistake," he said, "I completely forgot I deceived the cops into believing Bay was in the opposite location."

"You put nearly sixty cops in the hospital. I think they all suffered from severe dehydration," Peppermint said, "That's torture."

"Orion, how many cops are still in intensive care?" JJ asked.

"Fifteen," she said, "They're worried two of the cops might lose their legs."

"Okay," JJ said, "I can save those two."

"Officer Davidson is the same cop who shot Thong in the back," Orion said, "He's near death."

"Aaaaarh!" He exclaimed. "Come on, Orion! Why are you making this hard?"

"You need to swallow those feelings," she said, "You're making it personal."

"Peppermint, what should I do?" He asked.

"You did cause this," she said, "You entered into his mind, and made him believe he had to find Bay at all cost. He couldn't stop under his own free will until you stopped him. The news said several cops ran nearly forty miles."

"It's the right thing to do in this case," Orion said, "Fix what you broke."

"What do you think, Vera?" JJ asked.

"I was really trying to stay out of this," she said.

"You just don't like being on the opposite side of JJ," Orion said, "You know he's wrong if he lets that cop lose his legs."

"Okay! Fine. You're wrong, JJ, and you know it," she said.

"That's three to one," Peppermint said, "Burn!"

"I thought Vera would always have my back," he said.

"I do," she said, "That's why you have to do the right thing."

Freeland Regional Medical Center…

JJ walked into the hospital with the black suitcase. The hospital teemed with cops from one end of it to the other, and as soon as he walked over to the elevator, a gaggle of cops blocked him from entering. The largest cop was Officer Ledford, and he had a freshly shaved head. JJ could see the redness from where the razor irritated his kin. When he tried to push the button on the elevator, the large, animal of a cop punched him in the gut, but it broke the cop's hand. The bone in his right forearm stuck through the skin. Blood shot up into the air, and JJ thought, _I hope you die_. He fell to the ground screaming, but it didn't phase the young man at all. JJ turned around, headed, back to his car, and realized it wasn't his job to help the cops.

"That was fast," Peppermint said with a smile.

"It doesn't take that long," he said. "Hop in the passenger seat. I'm driving."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

During Bay's first day on the corner of Main Street panhandling for more than four hours, he had a confab with an illegal alien on fake identification cards. He remembered the man told him Aaron Rodriguez, a gang member who worked off Main Street, had access to authentic, fake identification cards. He needed a fake card to complete the hiring process with News Action Four. Honestly, he wanted to abide by the rules of the land, and not draw any unwanted attention to himself, but the side street right off Main Street harbored a criminal element. His mind advised against traveling to the small, but vociferous Hispanic District, but he had to do it. He was only sixteen-years-old but needed to pass for a twenty-three-year-old college graduate. The only reason he had the ability to keep up with the rest of the applicants was that his Momma taught him well through the years.

He worked directly under Tyler Long, the morning news anchor with an attitude. Randy Rush's room was across from Tyler Long's room, and on the first day, he ran into the veteran, black anchor twice. Every time he saw the old, black man, he had to think about things to calm his nerves. Mister Rush's age was about forty-nine according to his biography, and he had a wife named Corey. He tried to learn as much about the man as possible because he wanted to know why he hated black people.

"Mister Rush, how are you doing this morning?" Bay asked with a forced smile. He was using the alias of TJ Jones because he had to hide his identity. He was the most hunted man on the planet.

"Who are you?" Mister Rush asked.

"I'm Tyler Long's intern," he said, "TJ Jones. Today's my first day." He stretched out his right hand for a handshake, but the veteran news anchor didn't reciprocate.

"Oh. Well, when you see me, don't speak to me. It breaks my concentration."

Another intern by the name of Ursula Lee worked directly for Mister Rush, and she was an Asian girl with a small head, quiet, and bony. She had a stack of Mister Ryan's books on her desk. On the first day of work, she wore a black dress with a black vest and a white shirt underneath it. She looked professional. In addition, she had on some black-rimmed glasses. When he first saw her, he almost started laughing because she seemed so fidgety, but that wasn't the case. She walked up to him, squeezed his bicep, and said, "Damn! You're pretty big. Bet I can outrun you, though."

For a moment, he stood in disbelief of her forwardness; it was shocking to him the way she gripped his biceps without any compunction. He laughed. "What makes you think so?" He asked. To be honest, he didn't have much experience with the ladies due to the fact he was always taking care of his sick Momma.

"I just know," she said, "We'll race one day, and then you'll buy me dinner after I whoop that ass."

"You do need to eat," he said, "That's for sure." He watched her walk away, down the hallway and wondered if she'd look back at him. In any case, he didn't truly know how to talk to the ladies. He hadn't ever met anybody with so much spunk in his entire life. When she reached the end of the hallway, she looked back at him and winked. He didn't know if to smile, wave, or stay calm, so he gave her a half smile, and then worked on filling out Mister Long's spreadsheet. He had too much turmoil going on in his mind to wonder about Ursula, and he couldn't ascertain if she was hitting on him or if he just took her intentions the wrong way. He had to think it was the latter because there wasn't anything special about him, at least in his mind.

In the background, he noticed his photo on the television screen. He turned it up for a second, and the news reporter said, "The city of Freeland is putting a ten million dollar bounty on Bay Nelson's head." Panicking, he quickly turned off the television and went back to working on the spreadsheet. Even though he didn't look anything like his old photo, he suspected somebody would eventually notice him. But as long as he eventually ripped Mister Rush's head off his body in the most painful way possible, he'd be satisfied in death.

As he sat in front of the desktop computer, he received a message from Ursula, and it caught him completely off guard. She appeared on the screen with her black, rimmed glasses almost falling off her slender face. "So, I was thinking about a few drinks after work," she said, "How about it?"

He smiled, and said, "How about Thursday? I have to take care of some important business tonight."

"If you're not interested in me, then tell me now?" She asked with a grimace.

"No. It's not that. I'm actually fascinated by you," he said, "But I have business after work today."

Later on in the day…

Bay walked over to the Hispanic District, and it was nothing more than one long, two-mile stretch of businesses owned by the Hispanic community. The aesthetics of the area were atrocious because none of the colors matched. Somebody painted some of the buildings a bright orange while other buildings were a dull red. There were three businesses painted black, and they stood out in the array of multicolored structures. He walked up to the first black building, walked inside, and noticed it was nothing more than a pawn shop. It had toasters in the far corner, guns in the clear counters all the way around the store. He saw several men walking around in the backroom of the business, but he didn't know how many. He looked at a wall full of guitars that immediately caught his attention. At the same time, he felt the guy behind the counter watching him closely. At first, he looked at two of the black, shiny guitars, but noticed a white one with a black baby and an Asian baby on it. At first, he smiled, and then he saw the names written in cursive above their pictures: JJ and Peppermint.

"Where did you get this guitar?" He asked in a deep voice.

"From Dooby Boys in Little Africa," Mister Rodriguez said with a grimace. "What're you doing here, eggplant?" The man asked. He was a short man with a freshly shaved beard. When he made the slight at Bay, he stuck his chin and his chest out like he spoke with some authority.

He wasn't familiar with the slight, but he knew it was a slight nonetheless. But since his whole reason for being in Metropolis was to deal with Randy Bush, he didn't want to waste time with a small minded man. "What is your name?' Bay asked with a befuddled look.

"I'm Mister Rodriguez to you, boy," he said with a rough voice.

Bay smiled at him, and then said, "I'm TJ Jones." He looked at the pipes sticking out of the wall and thought they were a safety hazard. The Hispanic man had a sidearm on his right hip, and he appeared to make sure Bay could see it. The man had several computers lined up for making fake identification cards, so he knew he was in the right place. He had a wad of cash in his front, left pocket, but he knew he was about two hundred dollars short. "Can you make me a fake ID?" He asked.

"Whoa," he said, "Are you a cop, nigga?" Several other men came from the back holding pistols, but it didn't phase the young man. He looked up at Mister Rodriguez henchmen, and every last one of them had guns in their hands, even the youngest kid in the bunch. He didn't know why all the guys wore muscle shirts because none of them was in shape. It was no need to show off, but the guys flexed with their pistols like it meant something.

"I need the identification for a job," he said, "I have a record."

Aaron laughed, and said, "I'm making no nig an ID."

Bay smiled. It was an ominous smile. "What did you say?" He asked in the nicest way possible. It almost appeared as if the slights escaped Bay, but it was all a ruse. His grandmother once told him that some people could sense when death was near, and when he looked at Mister Rodriguez, he wondered if he knew the day was his last day. He already made up his mind on what needed to be done because of Mister Rodriguez's utter disrespect. When he looked up at the other men on the far side of the room, they laughed at the disrespect, but Bay didn't find any humor in it. He tried to be kind, but he felt the men needed to be redeemed for their transgressions against his character.

"I'm not going to make a fucking nigger a mutherfucking ID," he said in a rough, strong voice that reverberated throughout the entire shop.

Without any warning, Bay slammed his head into the glass cabinet so hard that it shattered the counter completely. It wasn't a soft slam, the kind of slam that was meant to cause a small bump on the forehead, but it was the kind of slam meant to kill a man, and it did. He slammed his head so hard against the counter that he broke the glass completely, and the poor man hit his head on the floor. The force of the blow caused the entire counter to split into two pieces, and then when his head hit the ground, it cracked the concrete. Basically, the man's head cracked like a fresh watermelon on the ground, and when he heard the screams of the other men, it brought a joy to his heart because they understood that their lives were now at an end. He then held the man's limp body up with one hand, dropped him on the floor, and then picked up his gun that fell on the floor. Bay stuck the weapon to his chest, pulled the trigger, and the round bounced off of him, raced around the shop, and then went into the far wall.

"To me, this weapon is nothing more than a child's toy," he said laughingly. "It's unfortunate your brother lost his life, but he chose to disrespect me." He walked closer to the men who had their weapons pointed at him. "Did you know when you woke up this morning that today was the last day of your lives?" He asked with a certain, insidious calmness. "My grandmother said some people just know."

"Dude, you now have a bounty on your head," one of the guys said. "You killed my brother."

Bay placed his right hand over his heart, and said, "Yes. But you will join him soon."

The men fired their weapons at the young, precocious teenager, but none of the bullets penetrated his skin.

Bay ran up the stairs, punched through the largest guy, and split his body into two pieces, The blood flew up into the sky, and all over the ceiling. When the man's torso hit the ground, he was flinching for about two full minutes before his body went completely limp. The other two guys fell to the ground and begged for their lives, but their cries didn't affect the young man at all. "Who can make me a birth certificate, social security card, and driver's license?" He asked.

When the younger of the two men raised his hand, he quickly ripped the head off the other guy. The blood flew straight into the air, and then his entire body fell forward. He walked over to the door, put up the closed sign, and then locked it. When he returned to the man doing his ID's he asked, "Have you contacted the police?" He asked.

The man's hands trembled as he punched the computer keys. He barely had the ability to look up at Bay, and then said, "Yes. They're on their way."

"It's unfortunate," he said, "Finish my ID while I think."

It took the man forty-five minutes to do his IDs, and what made matters worse was the cops hadn't arrived on the bloody scene. He sat in a wooden chair, watched the young man, and asked, "Did you truly informed the police about me?"

"Yes," he said in a brittle voice. "I told them you killed all my family.

The young man took the paperwork, placed it in a clear baggy, and then handed it to Bay. "How old are you?" The young killer looked around the shop for a moment and saw some bleach underneath the counter. He was going to have to use something to clean up the mess.

"Fifteen," he said calmly. "Almost sixteen."

"You understand that death is just part of living," he said calmly. "It's unfortunate the cops didn't show up to save your life."

"You're the same guy who killed all those cops in Freeland, aren't you?" The young man asked.

Bay grimaced. "I didn't enjoy that," he said, "But they killed my Momma. Your people chose to disrespect me. There're rules to our game, isn't it? What would you think of me if I let you live?"

He began to sob and then said, "I'd think you were weak and stupid because one day I would find you, kill you and your family. It's the way of things."

He walked around to the other side of the counter, and said, "That's right. I would be weak in your eyes if I don't handle my business now. I don't take pride in killing, but sometimes it's best to cull the dregs of the world. " When he looked down at his IDs, the Hispanic kid made an attempt to stab him in the chest with his knife. The blade broke into several small pieces. Bay smiled at the kid, and then he punched through his body and ripped him into two pieces. It was the way of things.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Early morning March 2, 2019…

"All my freaking gawd," Jennifer said as Peppermint encrusted her with a pile of sticky stuff. "I can't move my arms." She tried to twist out of the white, cocoon of sticky goo, but she couldn't move at all.

"That's the point," Peppermint said. "Use your powers to break free."

"How did y'all become so good at this stuff?" She asked.

"Blame Supergirl for that," Peppermint said. "We train with her all the time, and she hits hard." Peppermint walked up to Jennifer as she stood in her gooey prison, and said, "Now break free."

Suddenly, Jennifer turned into pure energy, and the goo dissolved from around her body. As soon as she tried to relax, the Vulcan flew over the hill, and then she knew the chase was on. She took off into the air, and then he flew after her like a speeding bullet. Her heart raced because she felt like she was running for her life. She tried her best to flee from her mentor, but it was hard. He seemed to know her every move. When she turned into pure energy and flew into the powerlines, he chased her into the powerlines and caught her. He brought her back down to the ground, and she was breathing so hard that she thought she was going to die.

"You're getting fast," Peppermint said. "Real fast."

"You guys were moving at thirty thousand miles per second," Orion said as she sat on the Vulcan's right shoulder. "I bet you can push it to the speed of light, Jennifer."

"We'll wait on that," the Vulcan said, "We don't want to push her too hard too fast."

"Eli's waving," Vera said as she held James Junior in her arms.

Eli Ga'Narian sat on the far hill and then waved. "Are you ready?" She screamed.

"Give her a minute," Peppermint said, "She's a little winded."

Jennifer spent the last two weekends with the Vulcan, his two girlfriends, and his nanny. She laughed because Peppermint often referred to his flying robot as his mistress, but at the same time, she had a flying robot too, but she didn't confide in her flying machine the way the Vulcan did with his. His computer was called Orion, and she appeared to be a valuable member of his family. She had a sweet voice, but when it came to Peppermint's flying friend, his name was Veo.

The other girl was their best friend Vera, a petite white girl who often backed JJ up, even when he was wrong. At first, Jennifer thought they were in a sexual relationship, but it was the furthest thing from the truth. Peppermint brought up JJ's guitar that Vera pawned behind his back, and said, "We've always taken care of you, Vera. You didn't have to pawn JJ's guitar. He let you use his first guitar in good faith."

She broke down, started crying, and then JJ said, "Vera, you're more important to me than a freaking guitar. But if your mother is short on cash for the rent, then we'll give it to you. It's no big deal."

"The pawn shop owner told me he sold it to another pawn shop in Metropolis," Vera said, "I'll find the guitar. I will, JJ."

Jennifer watched them as they had their little tiff over the guitar, but JJ never once raised his voice with her. When he helped Eli Ga'Narian train John, JJ and Peppermint would retreat under a shade tree, and discussed their lives. They left John in the middle of the field, but before they retreated, they told him, "Life is going to get really painful for you if you don't put more effort into your training."

On two occasions, JJ took Eli Ga'Narian into a private room, and then when they returned, she looked like she had been crying. Often, she returned with torn clothes, bruises, and mental exhaustion. When Jennifer asked, "Is he abusing you?" She looked at her and smiled.

"He's training me for the future," she said softly. She pointed to a cup of water and it flew to her right hand. "I never dreamed I would be able to move things with my mind, Jennifer." She paused for a moment, and then said, "He's been training me every day. I didn't experience this much pain in Lantern Academy."

It was about eleven o'clock in the morning on March the second when John Stewart flew over the small hill and tried to hit the Vulcan with a graphical fist. The Vulcan made a forcefield around his body, and then the fist dissipated. "You're not that smooth, John," Peppermint said.

"I know, right," the Vulcan replied. "I'm starving, guys. Let's go to Bang Bang Burgers? My treat."

Bang Bang Burgers…

The people who lived out of town always loved eating at Bang Bang Burgers. JJ rented a private room in the back so Peppermint could breastfeed James Junior without any complaints. When he took off his superhero uniform, he dressed in all black like the emo students.

"Have you tried the Lil' Rocks, Eli?" JJ asked with a smile.

"Not here," she said, "I've been filling up on corn dogs from the street vendors."

"I think the Lil' Rocks are the best," he said.

"Yeah," Jennifer said with a smile. "I use to eat them all the time."

"Why did you stop?" Eli asked.

"I was getting fat," she said with a smile.

When JJ paid for the food, he pulled out a black card. She knew he had money, but not black card money. A waitress escorted everybody into the dining hall that was in the back of the restaurant.

"Orion, check the room for bugs," JJ said calmly.

"Nothing detected," she said.

"Put a protective shield around the room," he said. He looked directly at Eli, and said, "I'd like to think things were going to be easy for you, Eli, but it isn't," he said with a grimace. "Moxia is in a war for its very way of life, and I'm depending on you to make a difference. You have to be the beacon of hope to your people."

She smiled for a moment, and then said, "But I'm only one person. We have a Doraxian Lantern on Moxia who hasn't made a single wave."

"But he's not Moxian," he said, "We've trained hard in the last two weeks, and I think you're ready to take on the universe." He paused for a moment, and then said, "A million years ago, the Oans designed the Green Lantern Battery. They attacked the Great Mother and yours truly."

"Wait? How old are you?" John asked with a grimace.

"I'm sixteen," he said, "But I have the godspark and it goes back over a million years. I'm basically the reincarnation of Ptah. When the Oans attacked us, I designed the Yellow Lantern Battery and gave it to my brother, Luciferous. A great war that encompassed the entire universe took place, and my sister was torn between her Oan brothers and her husband, Luciferous."

"Aren't they all brothers and sisters?" Jennifer asked with a scowl on her face.

"Yes," he said, "But we're talking about gods. Peppermint's godspark is the descendant of my godspark," he said, "She was a Deceiver who I elevated into a god. When the Green Lanterns and Yellow Lanterns went to war, I tried to diffuse it by creating the Sapphire Corp with Sayd in charge. The rings in those days were so powerful that my family destroyed several worlds in their great war. The Great Mother told me to fix it, so I created the Black Lantern, and suppressed the powers of all the rings until my family calmed down. When the Great Mother fled to Chthonic, she took the master rings with her. She has the Luciferous ring, Sayd's ring, and Ganthet's ring. These rings aren't anything like your rings. They're a thousand times more powerful."

"How about your ring?" Eli Ga'Narian asked.

"It's on my homeworld," he said, "Protected by my daughters."

"Why didn't she take your ring?" John asked.

"I'm the first son," he said with a smile. "If you search your ring's history, you will find that I'm telling you the truth."

"It's true," Eli said, "I thought it was all simple myth."

"Why do I feel like I'm on a mission?" Jennifer asked.

"You are on a mission," Peppermint said with a smile. "That's why we're here. Everybody in this room plays a significant role in the future."

"But first thing is first," Orion said, "Moxia must stop their infighting."

"I was just thinking," Eli said, "I don't recall a Sayd."

"She's born exactly ten years after Luciferous arrives," he said, "He accidentally killed her the last time, and the time before that. He falls madly in love with a mortal woman we call the Green Witch. When she nears the end of her life, he usually makes her young again. Unfortunately, every time he does that, her depression grows. Eventually, she begs him to let her die. Of course, Sayd is the good wife who tries to please her husband, but his love for the memory of the Green Witch drives her to drink ambrosia, a drink that temporarily weakens gods. In Luciferous fits of rage, he usually kills his beloved Sayd. It's a tragedy that happens repeatedly. After that, he retreats into a yellow sun. When he flies into the sun, he finds nirvana, and then the matrix kicks out another Luciferous two thousand years later. "

"But why?" Jennifer asked.

"For the time he's here, he'll put the universe back on track," he said, "Once that happens, he needs to leave so the universe can learn. All of this is the design of the Great Mother."

"JJ, the cops just pulled four bodies out of a pawn shop in Metropolis," Orion said, "It appears the men have been dead for a few days."

"Analyze the footage, and tell me if you find any similarities with any other murders," he said calmly.

"It looks like the murders happened on Wednesday," she said, "You still have enough time to extract memories."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Thursday, the twenty-eighth of February was a troublesome day for Bay because he had blood all over his new suit from the previous night. Rain moved into Metropolis as if the gods did it deliberately. At first, he thought he could rub some of the blood out of his classy clothes, but he couldn't. It stressed him because it was his only suit. He showered. It was around nine o'clock in the evening when he walked from the pawn shop in the pouring rain. The water erased most of the blood off his suit, but not all of it. It was obvious he'd have to dispose of the clothes with fire.

When the rain stopped, he traveled into the bottoms of Metropolis where the indigent and homeless lived. Under the bridges, the train tracks, and the open sky sat hundreds of people of all hues. He traipsed through the crowd of indigent people as they hovered around barrels of fire. Two little black boys ran past him with soap in their hair, and when the rain fell again, they raced from under the bridge into the open and rinsed the suds out of their heads.

He didn't know why he went into the pawn shop while wearing his new threads because he knew the possibility of killing somebody was high. The same type of miscreants existed in Freeland, a smaller black community about fifteen miles from his location. It was another town, with its own local government, and hellbent on keeping its black population in shambles. Under the bridge was a shanty town, a place where the lowest people in society lived, and it was all troublesome. In a world of Superman, he didn't understand how this could have happened. But at the same time, nobody cared about Freeland, the waste, and all the cancers in the town. Nobody did anything about that. So, when he watched the lost under the bridge on Tenth Plaza Road, he just looked on without any expression on his face at all.

He walked down the street in some blue jeans, running shoes, and a t-shirt the next morning. It was the only clean clothes he had, and due to all the blood on his suit, he burned it in a trash can that homeless used to keep warm. Due to the cold wind, the bums added more fuel to the fire that consisted of old, dried wood, paper, or whatever else they could find. He doused his wet clothes in some gasoline, tossed it into the flames, and it roared.

The rain continued to fall. The kids frolicked, giggled, and didn't seem to notice their condition. The fire burned brightly as it covered up his sins. He warmed his tenebrous, brown hands on the flames of his transgressions.

Bay looked over at a group of teenage girls, straight into their round faces, and knew what he saw: young street walkers amping up for another night of pleasuring dirty men.

"Listen, we get the license plate and name of every driver," the girl with the black hair said. She looked like she was of Indian descent, but he couldn't really tell. It was a menagerie of different ethnic groups under the bridge, all in not too different situations. But from what he could tell, the Indian girl lead the pack because she spoke with authority and confidence. He didn't know if she was fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, …, or thirty, but she had a style about her, something he found likable.

"What the fuck are you staring at, kid?" The Indian girl screamed at Bay as he was gorgonized by her beauty. She had a softness about her that attracted him, a dark brown hue with straight hair. But when she screamed at him, he sensed the streets in her, a crassness that turned his stomach.

"I didn't mean to stare," he said in his soft voice. He spoke in a manner as not to aggravate her anger but to mitigate it. His Momma taught him at a young age about conflict resolution, and when the Indian girl screamed at him, he thought it was time to act like he had some sense. He recalled that communication was the first bullet point in easing any volatile situation. "I hope I didn't disrespect you." He placed his hands back up to the fire for some heat, but the Indian girl kept staring at him. She continued to talk to the other loosely dressed, young ladies, and then all of them left except for the India girl. She stood in the same spot and watched him like she was memorizing his face.

He walked over to her, and said, "What's wrong?"

"You look familiar," she said, "But I can't place it." Immediately, he thought she recognized his photo from the news, but in that picture, he was around thirteen, a small fro, and wearing glasses. He never really needed the glasses, but he wore them as part of his style when he was in middle school. In any case, he didn't look anything like the media presented him because he kept his head shaved with a thin mustache.

"What's your name?" He asked.

She looked up at him, hands on her hips, and let out a sigh. He realized she was torn between giving him a fake name and telling him her real name. Everybody had an alias. It was the life of the trolls under the bridge.

"Aesha," she said as she looked down at the ground. "Aesha Patel."

He paused for a moment. "Is that your real name?" He asked.

"It's as real as it gets," she said.

"Well, Aesha, my name is TJ Jones," he said as he stuck out his right hand. She looked down at it for a moment, shook it lightly, and he smiled at her. "It's truly nice to meet you," he said.

"Well, I have to get to work," she said.

The next morning…

He woke up the next morning, pulled the sheets off his bed because he had another wet dream. Most of the time he slept in the nude because of chronic wet dreams; it bothered him a lot because most boys only had wet dreams every now and again, but he had them all the time. If he didn't masturbate at least two times a day, then he'd have wet dreams, and sometimes when he did relieve himself, he still had realistic wet dreams that caused him dismay. Quickly, he took a shower. He had quite a bit of money from panhandling, but he knew he had to return to the corner at some point within the next week to beg for more.

He headed over to Big Boxes, a huge department store with plenty of gaudy clothing for the upscale busybody. It was about seven o'clock in the morning, but the cars filled the parking lot. All he needed was some slacks, a white collared shirt, and maybe a tie. In addition, he had to buy some new shoes to match his clothes. The first thing he noticed on his first day at Action News Four, none of the men on the supporting staff dressed professional. It was more of a casual dress. He noticed the women competed with each other to see who could dress the best, but the men didn't play that game.

When he walked into the store, he saw Ursula at Quakers, a coffee shop located in the store. The attendee in the small coffee shop wore a large, black hat like the old, Quakers use to wear. She was a black woman about twenty-five, and for some reason, Bay took notice of her immediately. It was a partially crowded place, and Ursula sat with her back to the main area. Quickly, he ran to the men's section, found some nice clothes, and paid for them. He changed in the bathroom, and then placed his jeans in his plastic bag. As far as he knew, he didn't have any blood on his jeans because he showered as soon as he arrived at his motel room the previous night and then again in the morning.

He tried his best to make use of the meager things in his motel room, but he felt he was being a wastrel, at least when it came to his clothing. The money he spent for his suit could have easily paid for two weeks worth of rent, and now due to his poor planning, he lost the suit. The next outfit he purchased he expected to coddle it like his baby because if he didn't keep up appearances, somebody would figure out his real identity. He had to remain inconspicuous.

"TJ," Ursula yelled out. Quickly, he turned around to see her enjoying a coffee and walked over to her table. She had on a black top with a red checkered skirt. She was a petite girl, with a small, but a noticeable pair of breast. She didn't have much up top, but she knew how to sexualize it. She wore her thin, black glasses, and for some reason, she actually looked good to him. Placing her telephone on the table, she slid the chair out with her left leg, and then said, "Have a seat?"

He sat down, and asked, "How was your evening?"

"Lonely," she said with a smile. When she took a sip of her coffee, she licked her lips in a semi-provocative way, but he couldn't ascertain if she was attempting to seduce him or not. "Did you take care of your business last night?"

"Yeah," he said, "I have to drop off my birth certificate to HR when we get to work. I had forgotten it yesterday."

"That reminds me," she said, "Better watch out for Randy Rush. He HATES black people. He's disgusting."

"I got that from him," he said, "He called that killer in Freeland a nigger on live television. I couldn't believe you could even say such a thing on the news."

"His bosses told him to do that for a rating jolt," she said, "He actually held his head in shame after that segment. The news station probably made ten million dollars off that word." He realized then that it was all a game. The media made a lot of money off the dead cops because they held a telethon for them. In addition, they televised most of the cop's funerals while calling him a savage, and further forcing all the black people on their shows to denounce Bay's actions while never telling the people that the cops shot his Momma. He looked across the table at Ursula, and for some reason, she was enamored with her cellphone.

"There's a fifty million dollar reward for that Bay Nelson," she said with a grimace. "He must be some kind of Superman or something." She paused for a moment. "Damn! He's hot as fuck though."

"He's a killer," he said with a grimace, "A stone cold killer." _Scale it back_ , he thought. He didn't want to overdo his disgust with himself, but he felt he needed to play the game.

"TJ, you can't say that without knowing his plight. One of the nurses said, 'The cops shot his momma.' Don't be so damn closed minded. If a cop shot my Momma, I'd want to kill too." Looking down at her watch, she said, "Let get out of here. Mister Rush acts crazy when this Asian girl is late. I have to finish HIS report on Freeland's missing contamination."

During Lunch…

TJ (Bay) walked into the cafeteria by himself. He stopped by Ursula's desk, but she said, "Dude. I don't eat in the cafeteria." He kind of considered her a Minerva, but it wasn't cemented in his mind yet. Apparently, Mister Rush used her to write news stories, so she was smarter than most people he knew.

"Why?" He asked. He noticed how she reacted to the idea of eating in the food court, and it caught him off guard. It was just the food court.

"This is my second internship with this company," she said with a scowl on her face. "You go eat in the cafeteria. Later you can tell me why I don't eat there. Just saying."

He smiled, and said, "Okay. But you'll be missed, Ursula." Walking out of her office, he was somewhat flummoxed by the way she acted. The only reason he cared was that he was crushing on her a little too hard. Honestly, he wasn't upset because he killed a bunch of cops. He was upset because he killed a man before he ever had sex, and that wasn't fair. When he sold his weed in front of Sue's Bistro, he'd hear people discussing their sexual exploitations, and always wanted to have a woman of his own. For some reason, her attitude felt off-putting to him, but at the same time, he might've imagined it all because he wanted her to act a certain way. His mind played with the idea that she would be his first. Regardless, he fantasized about every girl he met, and their looks didn't really matter. He started sleeping in the nude when he was thirteen because if he didn't masturbate, then he'd have a wet dream, and on some nights, he'd have two to three wet dreams.

When he walked into the lunchroom, he realized quickly that segregation still existed. All the white people were grouped with white people while Randy Bush sat in the middle of the cafeteria by himself. It was an odd look. The other black people were sprinkled around the room, but they sat by themselves too. The cafe was more of a food court with several businesses catering to the employees of Action Four News. TJ grabbed a plate of fried chicken for six dollars. He doused it with hot sauce, and it was the only thing that reminded him of home. In addition, he purchased a bottle of soda pop, some chips, and a brownie.

For some reason, he chose to sit by Randy Bush, but the older black man didn't say anything to the kid at first. When he sat down, the older man made eye contact with him, but TJ pretended like he didn't notice it. The kid immediately started eating his chicken with his hands, and then Randy said, "Just like a savage. You don't pray and you eat with your hands like a barbarian."

"I purchased fried chicken to enjoy it," he said with a grimace. "Not as a picture show for people to see how uppity I can be."

Randy laughed. "They're judging us every step of the way. We must always put on a show for them."

The young man paused for a second, and then asked, "Who again?"

"Them," he said as he looked up at the camera in the far right corner of the room. "We're always being watched, you and I."

"Maybe you should see somebody about your delusions," TJ said, "It's best you work through this on your own."

Randy watched the kid as he walked across the cafeteria, throw his plate in the trash, and then march out of the room. He thought about what he said to the young man for a second, and quickly realized that he might have sounded off-putting, a little ominous in his delivery. But when he looked around the cafeteria, the whites sat with the whites and the blacks sat intermittently throughout the cafeteria by themselves. As long as he didn't make any waves, he received his paycheck at the end of the month, but he found it hardly fulfilling.

When Randy started work at Action News Four in the late nineties, he had hoped to make a difference in how mainstream America reported the news. He was twenty-nine when he first grabbed the anchor desk in nineteen ninety-nine, and he thought his forty thousand dollar a year job was the top of the line. His wife-Corey Sue Rush-was pregnant with their first child, and that was a great joy in his life. During their college years, they discussed a multitude of subjects, but never once did they talk about the plight of the black man in America after their first daughter was born.

"I had a rough day at work today," he said to his wife as she held their baby. The sun had set on Metropolis that day after Superman disappeared off the Pacific. The news station had run with the story that another superbeing killed him somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, and the entire world was on edge. 'I was passed over for promotion again."

Her disheveled look wasn't how she usually appeared, but it didn't bother him. She was in her red nightgown. The baby suckled on her left breast. The dim lights from the overhead lamp gave her just enough light to read her romance novel. "What's the reason?" She asked.

"I truly think it's because I'm black…," He said.

"Oh please, Randy. You're always trying to play the race card," she said, "That's not the reason. You just need to work harder, stay focus, and you'll receive the promotion."

For over twenty years, he never confided in his wife, Corey Rush, about the struggles he faced on the job because she could never see his point of view, but when it came to the company outings, he found his blond hair wife to be an asset. Often, he denied the world around him, attacked his own people, and did negative segments about black people because it brought him the much needed local fame. By saying, "The black community is just playing the race card," brought him fame and appreciation in Metropolis among the whites, but scorn among the blacks. In two thousand, a report came across his desk concerning Downing Chemical polluting the poorer regions of Freeland. The report stated about the possibilities of higher cancer rates in the town, but when he reported it, he said, "Freeland should be happy that God blessed them with Downing Chemical. They should just stop complaining."

In two thousand and one, it all boiled over, and he had a torpid response to his relationship with his wife because, in privacy, his denigration of the black community weighed heavy on his heart. Every night he gave a report besmirching the black citizens of Metropolis and Freeland in some way. He was so weak of a man that he allowed his wife to have an ongoing affair with Blake Whitney, one of the daytime anchors, for two years. Due to his feelings of inadequacy, he felt like the other man in the relationship with his own wife. In his mind, he encroached on Blake's relationship instead of seeing it as Blake violating his.

Randy's first child was named Lovely Rush, and she had light brown skin, green eyes, and dimples. It was obvious that Lovely was his daughter, but when it came to Kylie, he knew she wasn't his due to the fact they didn't engage in sex for the two years she had her affair with Blake. Well, he did have a paternity test, but that was for the courts. He couldn't imagine bouncing around in her vagina after another man jizzed in it, and the thought of it frustrated him.

When Kylie was born, he immediately had a paternity test and the baby wasn't his, but during the divorce proceeding, the courts forced him to pay child support. It was as if the courts purposely protected Blake and his career from his responsibility. Somewhere in the melee of court cases, he looked over at his former wife as she suffered from the divorce, and pitied her. Blake no longer found her attractive as a single woman and broke off the relationship with her. Randy took her back in early two thousand and five after she had a breast cancer scare, but he always saw her as the white man's trash. For a little while, they had passionate sex, but when his third child was born, their sex life waned. The last child's name was Nathan Rush.

"I'm going to need that piece on the water in Freeland," Blake said as he passed Randy in the hallway. "Downing Chemical asked the courts to delay the trial until they can find out what happened to all the radiation in the fields."

He turned to his boss, and said, "I'll have it for you by three o'clock." When he walked into his office, Ursula sat at his desk, worked on the article, and then said, "I'm almost finished, boss."

"Did you eat anything?" He asked with a grimace.

"A sandwich," she said smilingly.

"Why are you so happy?" He asked.

"TJ told me exactly why I don't eat in the cafeteria," she said, "He was like, 'I walked into nineteen fifties Mississippi.' " She laughed. "He's cute."

"Shoot! I would eat in my office, but I need to be seen," he said, "The boys upstairs always want their favorite Negro center stage."

Randy tried to move past the fact that Blake sailed into the lead anchor job with no problem, but the company denied Randy the job until Obama became the President of the United States. For eight years, he was the lead anchor until Obama left office, and then they relegated him back to his previous position, but with the same pay. He had the letter in his desk drawer that stated he was Blake's ancillary, and he hated that fact.

"I put your paperwork in for full-time employment," he said, "But you better not have any drugs in your system."

"What about weed?" She asked with a grimace.

"It's legal," he said.

"Okay! Because you know I lit one before bed last night," she said, "Slept like a baby too."

Afterwork…

The anchor chair had its perks, that was a fact, and it allowed him to wiggle his way between many young lady's legs. He couldn't stand being with his wife longer than a few hours a day, but when it came to the local pub, Sally's Boys, he had plenty of stray women at his fingertips. Now that his wife was forty-nine, she had long lost her luster. In their college years, she had a grace about her that seduced him at first sight. He still had a youthful but strong look about him in spite of being a forty-nine-year-old man. He popped a few ecstasy pills in his mouth while he sat in the booth at the bar. His shenanigans go way back, some eleven years at Sally's Boys. They all knew him because he frequented the joint at least three times a week. The pub was crowded as ever, and he saw Ursula and TJ in the corner drinking and laughing. He honestly hated them for invading his space.

"Mister Rush!" TJ exclaimed from across the floor.

"That fool acts like a teenager," he said under his breath. The music was gentle. Ursula danced on top of the table and then fell in TJ's arms. He picked her up like she was a feather, and twirled her above his head. She laughed like nobody cared, and he just stood there holding her like she was his first love. Mister Bush thought, _kids_. He had seriocomic thoughts about his young intern, and back in the day, he would've tried to sleep with her, but he developed a conscience about five years earlier. He just didn't want to taint another working relationship like he did in the past. Before he developed a work ethic on sex in the office, he thought he started his own _me too_ movement. For example, when one of the other reporters said, "I tapped that young intern in Accounting." Randy would automatically say, "Me too." He felt disgusted with himself.

Nineties music played in the background. The girls flooded into the bar in their cowboy hats, boots, and tight jeans. Some had skirts, but most of them wore jeans. Lacie, the waitress, set two whiskey sours on the table. It had a lemon wedge and cherry on top in both of them. He truly enjoyed his two whiskey sours as soon as he walked into the bar; they always went down smoothly.

"Hey, Randy," a young blond girl said with a crooked smile. Her name was Shell Arnold. She was thin with a noticeable derriere, a nubile blond haired woman that gravitated towards men with money and fame. He had plenty of them both, but more of the latter. He already drank a few beers, a few whiskey sours, and took some ecstasy so everybody was a little more attractive now than when he first arrived. She sat down next to him wearing some kind of sweet perfume, but he didn't know the exact flavor. For over the last year, he slept with Shell in the seedy motel, gave her a few hundred dollars a pop, and she stayed mum about it. He already had a room in the seamy motel down the street. Despite the fact that he lived in a nice house across town, the motel was only for one thing-some quick sex. Often, he caught a slight case of erectile dysfunction, but he had medicine for that. All he needed was one pill in the morning, and it gave him the strength and stamina of a teenager, at least in the sex department. In fact, it worked so well that he had to relieve himself in the downstairs bathroom a couple of times a day. And on two occasions, he had an erection that lasted more than four hours and had to go to the emergency room for it. He blamed the drugs for his cheating, but it was the cheating that forced him to stay on the drugs. It was a cycle of addiction.

He walked with the young girl down the misty street of Metropolis, past prostitute corner, and over to the shady motel. His watch read eleven o'clock in the evening, and he didn't want to dawdle with the young woman. Often, they would waste time talking about life and what-ifs, but he wanted some quick sex, and then sleep. He didn't have to do too much gallivanting around because Sally's Boys had everything he needed: girls and booze. It had a healthy supply of women frequenting the joint, but even on Lesbian night, he was able to have an extra happy time.

"Is this just going to be a quicky?" She asked with a grimace. She sat back on the bed in her panties and bra, and then she said, "I really want you to spend some quality time with me."

"This is only a sexual relationship," he said with his pants around his ankles. "I thought we agreed on that."

She scoffed at that idea. "I'm not getting any younger over here," she said, "This is it, Randy. After tonight, I'm done because I need to start focusing on my future."

He sat on the bed with her, caressed her hair, and tried to assuage her emotions. She looked straight ahead, but he knew she would cave in to his needs at some point. She didn't have the emotional strength to keep him at bay the whole night. "I never said I didn't love my wife, Shell," he said softly. "I still do."

"But you're sleeping with me all the time," she said, "What's that all about?"

"Pleasure," he said softly. "I enjoy you." She looked over at him as he massaged her vagina, and then she slid down her panties as she turned to her side. Her back was against his stomach. He slid his underwear to the side, and then they engaged in coitus.

Next Day…

He finally made it home about two o'clock in the morning, but his wife forced him to take a shower because she said, "Can you at least wash your whore's scent off?" He knew his wife hated the fact that he found pleasure in other women, but after he took her back in two thousand and five, he realized he didn't have the heart to make the relationship work, at least not in the right way. She asked if on a previous occasion if he cheated on her, and he said he did on a regular basis. He didn't dither once when she asked about his infidelities. But at the same time, they rarely touched in a romantic manner. The relationship had moved past that.

The morning air had a slight tinge to it, but he didn't arrive at work until around ten o'clock. When he came into the office, Ursula had been working on his news segment and handed him the full report on the Freeland radiation problem, and it looked like the local government accused Downing Chemical of something they didn't do: contaminate half the town.

"Did you go home with that boy last night?" He asked. She looked rough around the edges like she had been up all night.

She smiled, "I slept with him," she said, "But we actually slept. He held me the whole night, cooked me breakfast, pampered me, and all those things." She paused for a moment. "I asked him why we didn't have sex."

"What did he say?" He asked.

"That he wanted to love me and be loved," she said with a half smile. A look of seriousness overtook her for a moment, and then she said, "I have a lot to think about now."

Randy laughed. "You've met a good guy and can't handle it."

"It's true," she said, "I've been in shock all night. I don't even know how to talk to a man who wants to listen, talk, and be with me for me, and not just for sex. It's weird."

"I hope it all works out," he said.

When he went into the lunchroom, he looked over at TJ, and then sat across from him. The young man had on a casual dress, and he looked well rested. "Why are you so relaxed and Ursula looks like a truck hit her?"

"Who knows?" He said calmly. "If I'm in a relationship, it must be a strong and trusting relationship, like my parents had." For a moment he sat in front of him, and then said, "She said, 'I don't think I'm worthy of you.'" He smiled. "I don't know what she meant by that."

When Mister Bush left the table, Bay watched him closely because he didn't trust the man. Honestly, he didn't rely on too many people, but he saw Mister Rush with a woman that wasn't his wife in the bar. He was only sixteen-years-old, out of his element, and attracted to a wild child of the age of twenty-two. Slowly, he ate this plate of chicken fried rice, thought about Freeland, and wanted to try to contact his Momma. He saw her on television when Ursula fell asleep in his arms in the early morning.

"Bay! Please turn yourself into the police," she said, "Freddie and I miss you."

He sat with his back against the headboard, Ursula's head on his lap, and for some reason, he actually thought he was TJ Jones. He had legitimate identification under TJ Jones, and when it came to Bay Nelson, he was dead. It was the way things had to be. At one point, he thought he'd pursue a relationship with Daisy Killjoy, but he knew it wasn't feasible. Due to the fact he had to hide in plain sight, it was wise to keep his friend's list short. In addition, he stayed as far away from social media as possible. It was the only way to ensure the cops weren't tracking him. At the same time, he had to live a mendacious life, a life built on lies and hiding and mistrust of everybody around him. Most men would've had quick, meaningless sex with Ursula, but he couldn't do it, even though he wanted sex so badly. He wanted to feel a woman underneath him one time before some hero took him from the planet, but at the same time, he wanted to be with somebody he truly loved.

For the rest of the day, he worked on several reports on the disappearance of the radiation in Freeland. And several times, he accidentally wrote the Vulcan eradicated the radioactivity, but he had to quickly erase it. There was no way anybody could possibly know the Vulcan cleaned up Freeland without being there.

After Work…

After work, he approached Ursula while she worked on the news stories for the next day. She worked on the teleprompter feed for the morning crew, and the staff writers came in afterward to correct any mistakes, and update the teleprompter. Bay did similar work for the weekday morning crew, and other odd jobs around the office.

Ursula sat at Mister Rush's desk typing away on his computer. She looked raggedy: disheveled hair, bags under her eyes, and stressed. He watched her for a moment because even at her worse, he found something special about her. "I'm out for the night."

"Okay," she said, "I'll chat you up later."

"Okay," he said with a smile.

Bay had already written everything he needed to write for the next morning and felt pretty good about that. The evening crew was coming into the building as he exited Action News Four. As soon as his feet hit the sidewalk outside the plaza, he heard a multitude of cop sirens heading for the Hispanic District. It was only a matter of time before somebody complained of the rotting bodies in the pawn shop. After he killed the gang, he washed down the areas that he touched with bleach. Due to the illegal activity in the pawn shop, the owner didn't install cameras in the place. One of the major rules he abided by was wearing a hat when he walked around the town. The next rule was never looking up at the sky, especially when it was time to commit a crime.

He could see the flashing, red and blue lights from his motel room, and it made him nervous. He wasn't scared of the cops, but he knew if a camera caught him on the way to the pawn shop, he would have to abscond to another town. In his mind, he transgressed on several of his own rules: no killing and staying in control. In any case, he was prepared to fabricate a new identity, but he didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to Ursula. He liked her a lot, but he knew what he did in Freeland would always haunt him. Not in the sense that he was haunted by what he did, but more in the sense that he always had to look over his shoulders for backstabbers. Every day, the bounty on his head increased by nearly a million dollars. He watched as groups of people headed to the Hispanic District to watch the cops work. Suddenly, an ambulance left the scene with lights blaring, and that made him nervous because he didn't leave anybody breathing. He saw the wagon stop down the street near the Action News Four Plaza, and that gave him some comfort.

Typically, a gaggle of dead Hispanics didn't concern the cops, and from what he could tell, nobody in authority cared about them. The first news segment he saw on the murders called it a One Hundred retaliation. And for some reason, voices within the One Hundred said, "Yeah! We did it." Bay felt some comfort in the fact that nobody connected the murders with the cop killings in Freeland. But when he walked outside of his motel room, he stood against the front of the building. The traffic on that Friday evening was light. It was around ten o'clock, and he didn't feel like drinking. Some of the other long-term residents in the seedy motel cooked a rotisserie pig, drank cheap wine, and listened to some Hip-Hop. The aroma from the pig made his mouth water, but he didn't want to socialize with them.

Bay sat on the ground with his back against the shady motel. He read a book on journalism and pretty much blocked out all the background noise. The flashing red and blue lights had stopped, and since the cops were only there for a few hours, he knew they didn't evaluate the area properly. The One Hundred had already claimed the macabre scene as theirs, so he just sat back, read his book, and didn't worry about it. All of a sudden, he heard a car spinning its wheels about a block from the motel. The screeching tires caused him to look up for a moment. The car raced past the hotel, and then the driver slammed on his breaks.

The driver backed up quickly. He made eye contact with Bay like he knew him. On some level, it worried the young man because he couldn't place the man's face. He appeared to be of Mexican descent, but he couldn't really tell. He pointed directly at Bay, and said, "Paybacks are a bitch. You better believe that." When the young teenager nodded, the man raced down the street and turned off onto Johnson BLVD.

Bay pulled out his Track Phone that had internet access, and waited for a text from Ursula. But for some reason, he didn't think she would contact him. He was well aware of what he did when he said, "I want to love and I want to be loved." That was an odd thing to say, and to be honest, he wouldn't have said it unless he meant it. She said that she would think about what he said, but he didn't really believe her. Sometimes women placated to men's desires because they knew some men couldn't handle rejection well. So, when she said, "Give me time to think about it?" She didn't necessarily mean what she said. All of a sudden, the sixteen-year-old Bay surfaced, and he began typing a text to her, but immediately stopped mid-text. He looked down at the phone and sighed.

A group of girls walked down Main Street wearing provocative clothing, and he automatically assumed they were ladies of the evening. He had been doing a bit of reading, and he tried his best to understand why a man would choose a prostitute over a legitimate relationship. It was highly possible that he was just too young to understand the need for some relief.

"Sup, TJ," Aesha Patel said as she strolled down Main Street. He thought she looked fresh and clean. He found her fragrance alluring, but he kept his language above board and spoke like a gentleman.

"It's nice to see you again, Aesha. I'm glad to see your smile," he said.

She looked at him for a moment, and said, "You're very odd. It's like you arrived here in a time machine from a time when men respected women."

He smiled, and said, "Be safe tonight."

"I will," she said, "Thank you, TJ."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Action News Four mentioned a little about the killings of the Mexican business owners in Metropolis, but nothing else was made of the story. Jennifer saw it on Action News Four evening addition segment, but then it quickly dissipated from the airwaves. There wasn't any footage of who committed the heinous crimes, but they did interview a young man named Kevin Rodriquez, but it was all superstitious nonsense. He stood next to the Action News Four reporter with his arms crossed, cap tilted forward, and said, "Listen, mane! A demon did this. They're real, mane. Ancient demons that we thought left this world are back, homes. They're strong. The males can just breathe their scent into the air, and women will do anything for them. But this one is young, he doesn't know the extent of his powers yet. He only knows the rage."

Jennifer almost started laughing as she watched the maniac discuss demons and the supernatural, and as soon as the segment cut back to Randy Rush, he said, "That young fellow's a little disturbed." But at the same time, he appeared to honestly believe a real-life demon killed his family. It wasn't a laughing matter because people did die, but she thought it was a common street thug who killed them. Besides, Metropolis bred some of the most violent criminals in the state, and some of them actually tried to challenge Superman.

Reaching into her dresser drawer that she kept locked, she pulled out a bag of cannabis, a hefty bag of cannabis that Bay grew. The buds looked like a bushy, growling porcupine, and she had the intention of smoking every last drop of it. Everybody who smoked Bay's brand of cannabis loved it, that was fact, and it was also a fact that after she smoked her current bag, she'd never taste his product again. His methods of making a rich and robust cannabis crop would perish with him, good, bad, or indifferent, society's loss on that.

She rolled a tight joint but used the cannabis sparingly because it was so potent that only a minute amount was needed for the maximum high. _What good would a thick, robust blunt do if one puff left the smoker incoherent to the world_ , she thought. She rubbed her arms for a moment, and to be honest, the soreness wasn't getting any better. At times, she felt she could barely move because of training with the Vulcan. He pushed her hard, but he pushed Eli Ga'Narian the hardest for reason she didn't know. She took a quick puff of her joint and inhaled as much of the precious smoke as possible, and before she could think her next thought, she could already feel the weed relaxing her.

She tried to work through her sore muscles all day, but it was hard because the Vulcan and Miss Sticky were relentless in their training drills. If he tired, then she picked up where he left off. But when it came to Eli Ga'Narian, the Vulcan would open some kind of portal, throw her into it, and then when she returned, she'd be shaking like she saw the devil. On the fifth day, Jennifer asked Eli why her hands trembled after she returned from the other dimension.

"Why are you shaking like that?" She asked Eli. "Is he abusing you?"

Eli looked over at her for a moment, and said, "He's pushing me beyond the limits of my Moxian physiology. He's opened my mind to new concepts and possibilities. Before I was merely a Lantern. Now, I've moved past just a simple wielder of a ring. My mind, body, and soul are now one with my ring."

"Is he teaching things beyond what you learned in Lantern School?" She asked calmly.

"I thought I knew it all," Eli said, "I realized I know very little about the universe. There are planets with telepathic intelligence. When I was a little girl, my parents and I nearly crashed on a star about a light year from Brion Noir. When my father miraculously maneuvered the ship through a meteor storm, my Mother asked him how he managed it. He said a higher intelligence called Dora guided him through it." She paused for a moment, and then said, "The Vulcan nearly four million years ago was married to the planet for nearly a million years."

Jennifer laughed for a moment.

"Don't laugh," she said, "He's ancient. His father opposed his relationship with Dora, and then he tried to kill her. He laid his evil hands on the planet and tried to drain it of life, but the Vulcan placed his hands on his beloved and kept her from dying. But after he saved her, she refused to speak to him, and it caused a great divide in the family. When the Vulcan returned home to the Celestial Kingdom, he spent a millennium grieving over his losses, and found solace in the bosom of the Great Mother."

"His own mother?" She asked with a grimace.

"Gods often marry other gods within the same family," she said, "When gods mate with lower lifeforms, it often leads to chaos. But the Vulcan's real name is Ptah. The Great Mother and Ptah engaged in illicit sexual contact for years, and she gave birth to several powerful beings including the Guardians of Oa. The Great Father was happy with his new sons and held many festivals in their honor. He was happy to have sons who weren't Ptah, and he often told him that. There wasn't any love lost between Ptah and the Great Father. For reasons the Vulcan didn't say, The Great Mother told The Great Father that his only son was Ptah and that Ptah had fathered all the kids he called children. It enraged him."

"I bet," Jennifer said.

"It resulted in a war so bloody and nasty that it pitted Ptah and The Great Mother against The Great Father and all his so-called children."

"Dang! Did he fight his own sons?" Jennifer asked.

"He opened up another dimension, threw his sons inside of it, and closed it," she said, "For the next two hundred thousand years, the war destroyed planet after planet. Civilizations withered away, and the old universe went into chaos. Ptah asked his father while battling in the center of the universe, 'Why have you destroyed all that I've built?' His father looked at him with a grimace, and said, 'Because it's the only way I can truly hurt you! You've taken everything from me.' He stabbed his father with an ambrosia soaked knife, and the Great Father's last hoorah was firing the Omega Cannon. Immediately, Ptah extracted his brothers from the other dimension and forced them into the new universe. He took one planet with him that he named Brion Noir. It was Dora his first love."

Jennifer looked down at her joint and laughed. "The Vulcan is a planet fucker," she said under her breath as she started laughing out loud. She tried to control it because she didn't want her sister or father bothering her while she smoked her weed.

Raising her arms above her head became a major feat because JJ had her holding on to dumbbells above her head while firing lightning bolts with her feet. It caused her arms to feel like huge weights. She wanted to give up several times because he kept attacking her with his own brand of electricity, and then when she tried to rest, Peppermint chased her for nearly six thousand miles. She didn't have any idea she could move as fast as Superman, and it felt incredible. The training continued most of the day, but JJ fed them and told them they were performing a service for the good of humankind.

When she stumbled out of her room, she saw a sapphire light shining through the house. "Dammit! This weed got me fucked up." At first, she thought it was the glare from the television, but when she walked into the living room, she saw Orion floating in the living room. She hit Jennifer in the head with the blue ray, and all of a sudden, she couldn't remember anything about the Vulcan, JJ, Peppermint, or who trained her, but she didn't forget her training.

"Why did I come in here?" She asked as she stood in the middle of the living room. Jefferson sat on the couch with the remote control in his hand. Quickly, the sight of Orion faded from her memory, and she couldn't remember anything. _This weed is making me crazy_ , she thought.

"I don't know. Why did you come in here?" Jefferson asked. "It's because you're high."

She shrugged her shoulders, headed back to her room, and went to sleep.

Monday morning...

March the fourth came upon her pretty fast, and when she turned on the news, a display of the twenty-five cops who died at the hands of Bay Nelson was on the television screen. On the sixteenth of March, Freeland planned a parade for the fallen. She didn't know what to make of it because news spread quickly that an officer shot Mister Ryan's son. She wanted to send him some flowers, but at the same time, she didn't want to overstep her bounds. Since she quit running track, she took a part-time job at the local Big Boxes as a cashier. It only paid twelve dollars an hour, but it was good money since she still lived with her parents.

Now that she had powers, she didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse—or something somewhere between the two. Quickly, she put on some nice clothes, made up her face, and then headed to school. It was approximately three miles from her house, and since her father was the principal of Garfield High, she usually rode with him. She ate a quick breakfast that consisted of an egg, a few strips of bacon, and some hot sauce that were all compressed between some wheat bread. She sat on the steps of her house, looked down the street, and thought, _I have a father for a principal and a mother who's a doctor, but they still cringe when they see two white cops_. Mister Ryan, a millionaire, lost his son to police brutality, and the media painted a millionaire's kid as a thug. She didn't understand how it all worked, but she felt Freeland needed to hire more black cops and encourage the white ones to move to Metropolis. Well, most of them lived in Metropolis, commuted to Freeland, and scrutinized the residents of the city over every little thing.

When she walked over to her father's car, a young looking black lady strolled up. She looked like she was about twenty-five, but carried herself like she had a lot of wisdom. Her mannerisms were free of any crassness, and she spoke softly. "How are you doing, Jennifer?" She looked at the woman for a second and then smiled.

"Doctor Nelson, you look so healthy," she said.

She smiled. "My cancer went into some kind of remission. They're not able to detect any of it in my system. But I just wanted to ask if you've seen or heard from Bay?"

"No, ma'am," she said with a sad look on her face. "I fear the cops will do everything in their power to end him when they find him. At this point, they won't try to negotiate with him."

"That's not my fear," she said calmly. "I adopted Bay and his brother because beings like them need a stable home and lots of love. I've had them with me since Bay was four and Freddie was one. They're Incubi, an ancient race of demons with the ability to manipulate the feminine mind. But due to my illness, I wasn't able to give them the love they needed, so they would know how to use their abilities to help humanity."

"I've heard of the Incubus," She said.

"Yes. When the cops shot me, he killed those pigs without any restraint," she said, "I'm hoping he knows I'm alive so he'll stop killing. But when he's threatened or angered, his powers will activate, and he can actually shoot a mist out of his mouth that affects an entire room, and send all the women on a killing spree. There's only a few of his race left on the planet."

"I hope he can find a safe place to hide," Jennifer said, "If he shows his face, the cops will kill him."

Moments later...

Misses Nelson hugged Jefferson Pierce when he came outside, and then walked back to her house that was about three miles away. When Jennifer sat in the passenger seat in her father's car, she looked over at him, and said, "She wanted to know if I had seen Bay. He's probably not trying to contact anybody in Freeland. The cops will kill him at some point," she said, "If not the cops, then Superman." She paused for a second, rubbed her hands together out of nervousness, and then said, "I don't know what justice looks like. It's so lopsided and right and wrong often depends on race. Superman doesn't appear to be concerned about the slums. We're living in a soup bowl of contamination, and now nobody can find one trace of the stuff."

"Maybe something good will come out of this," he said, "I just pray we can get it together."

"Shouldn't we try to change the government of Freeland, Dad? What sense does it make for cops who don't look like us policing us? I shouldn't feel anxiety every time I see a cop." She felt a lot of anxiety in her heart over the fact she couldn't go about her day without the police acting like the Gestapo. The way the cops shot into Bay's vehicle, and injured his dying momma bothered her a great deal.

"You're right," he said with a stern look on his face. "But we have to get out and vote. Most of the people on the city council don't have our best interest in mind. Just look at all the contamination in Freeland? Somebody is making a profit off that." He looked over at his daughter, and grimaced."You're awfully chatty today," Jefferson said, "But let's be honest, the issues with Freeland happens all across America. We're no different from Chicago, Tulsa, or any other place with a large black population. The government ties our hands." He paused for a moment, and then said, "If every student at Garfield High made good grades, went to college, graduated with top honors, and opened businesses, whites would still run roughshod over Freeland because most laws don't apply to them."

"Then what's the point?" She asked. "We're trying to act with reverence in a land of irreverence."

"We'll have to fight for the resources we need to live apart from the people who choose to kill us, disrespect us, and draw us with the widest brush possible," he said, "History tells me that will be our only freedom. When the cops can freely shoot a ten-year-old black boy in the back and call it justifiable, we must start pooling our resources to separate from people like that. It's the only viable solution. We have a large chemical plant that pollutes our soil and water, and when we fight to correct the problem, the media makes us look like animals."

Jennifer looked down at the ground for a moment, and then said, "I won't ever see that day." She paused. "Maybe my children or my grandchildren will make a difference in the universe. I think the only justice we have is karma."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Shady Motel: March 2, 2019

The warm air turned cold. The clock read twelve thirty in the morning, thirty minutes after midnight, and what turned into a little game of wait-and-see, became extreme heartache because Ursula hadn't texted him. He sensed her hesitation when it came to a real relationship, and he didn't fault her for that. The streets teemed with characters of all types and hues, and of course, the prostitutes controlled the night or the morning or whatever time it might have been. The lowly creatures who lived in the motel sat in the parking lot, eating their roasted pig, drinking their dollar beer, and talking loudly as if they wanted everybody to hear.

He might've been wrong to demand Ursula's love; it was a mad request nonetheless that he couldn't make love to her without a commitment, but he wanted to set an atmosphere of seriousness, so she wouldn't have any doubts about his feelings. But now he felt she sent him a tacit message, a message of no compliance, and the signs were palpable. He thought she was at the club, but he wasn't sure. He didn't care at the very moment he thought that. Something inside of him told him to drop it, and pay more attention to staying under the radar.

He laid his head against the building and then heard Mister Rush's voice in the distance. "You don't mind a little anal, do you?" He asked of the young brunette he took to the motel room. He wore his blue jeans, cowboy boots, with a larger than life, cowboy hat.

"A little anal is always good," she said with a smile. Bay thought the incogitant couple needed to find a room, and keep out of the public eye. He spoke as if nobody could use his aberrant words against him. And now that he thought about it, Mister Rush was widely known in the area, and the people were used to his shenanigans.

When Bay stood to his feet, Aesha Patel meandered past him, but she was in the middle of the road. He almost yelled at her for walking in the middle of the street, but when he saw blood dripping from her midsection, he sprung into action. Her eyes watered because of her great pain. He could tell by the way she held her midsection that death was nigh. He pulled his phone out of his pocket but realized he didn't have much time. He cradled her in his muscular arms for only a brief moment. She was a petite woman, a woman in her last few minutes of life. Kneeling, he pushed off with all his might, flew into the air, and landed two miles away at the hospital. When his feet hit the ground, it caused a small crater. The hospital's name was Trauma Medical, and a team of doctors and nurses met him at the entrance. They rolled her into the hospital, but he immediately absconded from the premises before the staff could acquire his name.

Immediately, he ran back over to Prostitute Alley, the place where all the women of the night waited for Johns to pick them up. All of the women looked somewhat distressed. One lady with red hair, pudgy, and smoking a cigar leaned against the red brick building. She didn't appear to care too much about anything. The look in her eyes was one of loss, but it was more of the look when a person loses a child.

He saw another lady that probably stood sixty-nine inches, but she couldn't have weighed more than ninety pounds. She looked old and had small needle marks in her arms. Her clothes fit her loosely, and she looked diseased.

He saw a young, black girl crying uncontrollably, and when he walked up to her, she tried to flee, but he held her by the left arm. "Who hurt Aesha?" He asked with a scowl on his face. His eyes turned a yellowish hue, a glowing yellowish hue, and then her eyes turned yellow too. "Tell me!"

"It was Rod Pile," she said as she rubbed her hands together like she was nervous. After that, she wiped her mouth on the back of her left hand. "He's a cruel John who tries to beat us, but Aesha wouldn't stand for it. She stood between us and him. When he ran off earlier, we thought he was gone for good, but he came back. He ran up to Aesha, stabbed her in the belly, and then drove off."

Bay didn't realize he had the power to control women because he didn't know what he was. He thought he was merely human with special powers that made him impervious to bullets. When he asked the young woman about Aesha's abuser, she didn't have any choice but to bend to his willpower. She was a young woman no more than fifteen-years-old and had innocents about her.

"Where does he live?" He asked calmly.

"982 Pacer Drive," she said. Pointing in the direction of the motel, she said, "It's about two blocks over. It's a small abode with a red convertible in the driveway."

"It's that way?" He asked as he pointed in the direction of the motel.

"Yeah," she said, "If that one was gone, it would make our lives a lot easier. That's for sure."

He walked over to the other side of the street, over to his motel room, and saw an Asian woman standing at his door. "Ursula!"

"I finally finished the detail report on the radiation in Freeland," she said with a grimace. "I don't like what they forced me to write, TJ. I basically wrote a two thousand page report calling the people of Freeland liars in spite of the fact I know people had a higher rate of cancers in the area." He held her gently around the waist and she placed her head on his chest. Gently, he slid his fingers through her hair, and then she kissed him passionately.

When he listened to her, his heart sank because his Momma suffered from cancer due to the radiation in the area. In addition, his father died of cancer when he was twelve-years-old. But at the same time, he couldn't say the Vulcan cleaned up the radiation because he didn't want anybody knowing he had any association with the small town. He could have let out a series of invectives, but he didn't. He just listened to her for a moment. Reaching for the nightstand by his bed, he pulled out a box of air fresheners. He wanted the room to smell pleasant for Ursula because he cared about her comfort.

"You should have driven to Freeland. Maybe if you talked to some people, you'd be able to better understand what's happening there," he said, "We have so many people with special powers now that maybe one of them cleaned up the radiation."

She sat on the edge of his bed, kicked off her shoes, and then laid her head on one of the pillows. Sliding under the blanket, she kind of dozed off for a moment, and then said, "Mister Rush is trying to hire me on full time. I have to do what I'm told until then, TJ. Maybe the truth will find its way to the surface at some point." When she rolled over to her left side, he knew she was assuming the sleeping position. Within a few minutes, she was fast asleep.

Two o'clock in the morning…

The dew fell like rain and soaked everything. Pacer Drive sounded empty even though houses crowded the area. Most of the people parked in the street. The road was almost undrivable because it was crowded with so many vehicles. He slid his right hand across the small, foreign sports car, and then walked up to the house. Carefully, he turned the doorknob and broke it completely off. The front door opened to a dark house, but he could hear some whimpering from the back room. Cautiously, he walked into the house, and then all of a sudden, a flash of light blinded him, and then he heard a loud boom. It was the sound of a shotgun that hit him center mass. Due to the fact that it caught him off guard, he flew over the Easy Chair, and then onto the ground.

He turned his back to Bay. A young girl lumbered from the back room with bruises all over her face. The young man stood to his feet, and when he saw the girl, he said, "You should be ashamed."

Immediately, the man turned around with his weapon at port arms, and he tried to shoot the young man again. Bay side-stepped the next shot, and then punched the man in the lower midsection. Looking at the young woman, he said, "You should do to him what he did to Aesha."

She walked into the kitchen, grabbed a large knife, and then back over to the monster sitting on the floor holding his stomach. The young woman quickly stabbed the man in the midsection, and for some reason, it caught Bay off guard. She stabbed him repeatedly and counted as she did. "Six, seven, …, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty," she said, "You're dead." After the man quit breathing, she stabbed him a few more times and then dropped the knife on the ground.

He looked around the small abode for a moment, and then over at the young woman breathing heavy on the couch. "You should burn this place," he said with a grimace. "And then leave Metropolis until the heat dies down."

"Will do," she said.

Ten o'clock in the morning…

"You brought me breakfast?" He asked.

TJ (Bay) awoke to the aroma of the Bang Bang Burger Breakfast Platter; it had a sizable Bang Bang sausage patty, a slice of American cheese, scrambled eggs, and a side of the special, Bang Bang Red Dipping Sauce. It looked like blood. TJ (Bay) liked dipping his breakfast burger in the red dipping sauce and then taking a healthy bite. The more of the spicy, tangy red dipping sauce he got on his food the better it tasted.

"Of course," she said, "I love Bang Bang Burger Breakfast. The Quadruple Bs is the best meal of the day. I remember you talking about the breakfast platter, and thought I'd get it for you."

"Thank you," he said. He dressed his food the way he liked, and then he looked down at a brochure on the table about the Metropolis Zoo's new exhibit: Sheila The Gorilla. For over a minute he read the brochure about the gorilla, but something didn't sit right with him about the animal.

"It's the first Gorilla exhibit at the zoo," Ursula said with a smile. "I've been wanting to see it."

"Interesting," he said softly. On the front of the pamphlet was an image of the animal, and for some reason, Bay felt something for the animal. "I'm not sure if society should be putting Gorillas in cages."

"Didn't know you were the animal rights activist," she said with a grimace. "If you don't want to go, then we can spend a day sightseeing."

Tapping his hands on the table, he said, "I want to see her."

"Oh. Where did you go last night?" She said as she put jelly on her sausage. "I rolled over, and you weren't in bed."

"I went for a short walk to think about us," he said with a smile."

"About what?" She asked.

"I don't want to rush our relationship, but I was serious," he said in a calm voice. "I want to love you and be loved by you. If it takes a month, two months, six months, or even a year, I'm willing to wait."

She smiled. "I could just tell you I loved you," she said, "How would you ever know the difference?"

"I would know," he said, "I promise you that I would. It's like a sixth sense I have."

"TJ, I'm afraid to leave myself vulnerable like that," she said, "I've been hurt. Badly."

"Do you not have any room left for love?" He asked. "In time, I will fix what's broken."

Metropolis Zoo around four o'clock in the afternoon…

The zoo had plenty of people browsing around, eating expensive food, and dressed casually. He wore some khaki shorts with a black shirt, ankle high socks, and nice walking shoes. Ursula wore her hair in a ponytail, but her prominent bangs rested right above her eyebrows. They walked through the gates holding hands. When he saw some police officers at the entrance of the park, he became a bit leery, but he stayed the course.

"I love the smell of fresh popcorn," she said softly.

The refreshment stands stood in designated areas throughout the park. On the path that started at the front entrance, one of the stands was about fifty feet from the main entrance. It had a healthy line in front of it with people crowding around the area. The first display in the park was a statue of Superman that stood about one hundred and fifty feet from the main entrance. Two paths were on either side of the effigy of Superman. Bay (TJ) knelt beside the plaque that had Superman's real name on it.

"Kal-El sounds like a great name," he said as he read the plaque. "He never ages." Laughing, he asked, "What would my Kryptonian name be?"

Ursula smiled, and said, "Cutie-El."

"That doesn't sound very tough," he said. He stood next to the statue and exceeding tall model of the Man of Steel with larger than life shoulders, and then Ursula took a picture of him.

She looked down at the view screen on her phone, and said, "Perfect. Now, do me?"

"Okay," he said smiling. He pulled out his phone, took a picture of her, and said, "This Tracfone takes good pictures." She posed several times before he took a picture, and right when she blew him a kiss, he snapped it. "This looks really good."

"Let me see?" She asked as she looked at her photo over his shoulder. "Oh, my gawd! I'm a skinny head Asian chick."

"What does that mean?" He asked with a grimace.

"You never read Nick Ryan's series of books about frumpy Asian girls?" She asked with a grimace. "It's my favorite series of books in the world. During my last year of high school, I stayed in his apartment complex in Freeland at a discount just so I could interview him. It turns out his father cut him off because he married an Asian girl."

"Wow," he said with a worried look on his face. "Sounds like an interesting guy." They walked down the path that veered off to the right of Superman's statue, but he worried that Metropolis was too close to Freeland. He didn't realize that she knew Mister Ryan, a man that he quickly realized wasn't human at all. Sue Ryan told him exactly how she obtained her abilities, and it was because of her husband's blood and a magical water source called the Lazarus Pit. Not only did he know about Mister Ryan, he knew about his wife too. It all worried him.

"Before we leave, I want a picture of us together with Superman's statue," she said.

"Maybe we should do it now," he said, "It's a pretty big park. It closes a little after dark."

"Okay," she said.

After a stranger took multiple pictures of the couple in front of the Superman statue, they meandered their way to the hyena sanctuary, and several people crowded around the display.

"You ever notice how hyenas front legs are much longer than the rear ones?" She asked.

"Yeah," he said softly. "I find them to be beautiful creatures. I sometimes have dreams I'm running on the planes of Africa with the wild animals." He placed his hands on the glass of the display, and then said, "I'm so happy these animals look well fed."

"It's true," she said with a smile. "I went to a zoo in Gotham once. I swear those animals all looked neglected."

Her smile, the kindest facial expression he had ever seen, pleased him. And the entire time they wandered through the displays, she smiled. Gently, he turned to her, kissed her on the lips, and then she buried her face in his chest. "It feels good to be out and about with you," he said, "You're wonderful."

"You too," she said calmly.

When they arrived at Sheila's sanctuary that stood at the south of the park, Bay (TJ) walked up to the glass, but he didn't see her at all. He assumed she was in her cave that faced away from the audience. To get a better look at the Gorilla, he held Ursula's right hand, walked into the building that had part of her display, and she stood in the far corner behind a thick, almost unbreakable glass. Some twenty-something-year-old male banged on the window, and when Bay saw it, he asked him to stop distracting the gorilla. He had at least two other males with him who did a half circle around Bay and his girlfriend.

"Can you quit banging on the glass?" He said in a strong voice.

Ursula turned around, and said, "Don't get behind us."

"Fuck you," the young man said with a grimace.

The guy kicked the glass, and then asked, "What are you going to do about it?" Standing with his chest sticking out, he then replied, "You mess with us, and you're going to get hurt."

Bay (TJ) grimaced at the man, and then said, "You guys are grown, and should act as such. Now, quick hitting Sheila's display."

"You're ruining the atmosphere," Ursula said to the guy. "Why are you being so childish?"

"Yeah, Mark. Why are you being so childish?" One of the men asked as he made fun of Ursula.

After the roguish men hit the glass several more times, Sheila left the display area, and all the people in the building headed back to the main course. Bay (TJ) and Ursula sat on the park bench across from the sanctuary, and the loudmouth, overbearing onlookers beat their chests and acted like a caricature of a gorilla. He tried his best to keep his composure in front of his girlfriend, but it was hard. The men acted so foolishly that other people left the display area.

"Leave. All of you can just leave," Mark said, "I shot a gorilla just like this one on an African safari."

Frustrated, Bay and Ursula started to depart the area when Sheila leaped out of her cage, grabbed Mark by the throat, and began shaking him like a rag doll. Bay (TJ) ran up to the large beast and placed his right hand on her shoulder. Ursula was screaming in the background.

"What are you doing, TJ?" Ursula said. "You're going to get killed."

When Bay (TJ) touched the gorilla on the shoulder, she put the man on the ground, and he ran away. Several zoo custodians ran around the corner with guns, but Bay stood in front of the animal trying to protect it. "Don't you shoot!" He screamed. "Don't you dare shoot her."

"She's a dangerous animal, son," One of the men screamed.

"No she isn't," he said with a grimace. "Back away and let me handle this."

Bay turned to Sheila, placed his hands on her face, and said, "Why do I know you?"

He felt a tingle in his mind and heard a voice. "I'm Queen Sheila Lali," she said telepathically. "They caught me while I picked berries in the jungles of Central Africa. I need help."

Bay gasped, and then said, "I don't know what I can do."

Suddenly, Superman landed in front of Sheila and made an attempt to touch her, and she smacked him in the head. He stumbled backward on the ground. When he hopped to his feet, he tried to grab her, but the young kid stood in his way.

"Please help her," Bay said.

"I"m trying," he said, "I'm trying to put her back in her cage."

"She doesn't belong in a cage," he said, "She belongs in her kingdom."

Superman laughed for a moment, and then said, "You're delusional, kid."

When Superman attempted to pick up Sheila, Bay was prepared to fight him until he heard another voice in the distance. "Put the queen down, Superman." The Vulcan and Miss Sticky landed in front of the Gorilla. When the Vulcan looked at Bay, he said, "Step aside."

Suddenly, Bay floated in the air over to his girlfriend, and then the Gorilla fell to one knee with the back of her hand extended out to the Vulcan.

"What's going on Vulcan?" Superman asked.

"Queen Lali, please explain to Superman what happened?" He asked.

"Yes, my Lord," she said in a rough voice.

"I'm good," he said, "I understand what's happening now."

"She must be returned to her Kingdom," the Vulcan said. Bay watched him closely, and he looked massive from where he stood. He didn't realize the Vulcan was taller than Superman. "I want the world to know that they can't merely rule over the Gorilla Kingdom. They have rights."

"She's the zoo's property," a short fat man said in a business suit. He had thin glasses with a bald head. It almost looked like the man had a tan, but he didn't.

"No, she isn't," Superman said. "Nobody owns this creature."

Orion flew out of the Vulcan's backpack and analyzed the collar around Sheila's neck. She hit the collar with a beam, and it popped open. The Gorilla hugged the Vulcan for a long time, and Bay could barely believe that he helped save the animal.

"She's beautiful," Bay said with a smile.

"How did you know I was in trouble, Lord Ptah?" Sheila asked.

"I heard your cries," he said, "I'm sorry that I didn't hear you sooner." He turned to Superman, and said, "My car has the ability to open a portal to her kingdom. She can just walk through it, and be home." When the Vulcan whistled, the car landed in front of him, and then the palm computer flew into the vehicle, and it opened a portal.

When the Gorilla walked toward the entryway, she waved at Bay and he waved back. She went through the hole, and then it closed.

"Now what are we supposed to do for the main attraction?" He asked.

"I don't know," The Vulcan said as he and Superman flew off into the night sky.

Later in the evening…

The Pho Shop, an Asian bistro about a block from Bay's motel room became their cheap, at-home-feeling getaway. They sat in the couple seats to the rear of the restaurant, and the sparsely crowded eatery had people of all calibers eating. It was a little after seven o'clock in the evening, and a big screen panel television set hung from the ceiling. It was on News Action Four, and they were doing a news story based on Ursula's report.

Several ivy plants grew around the eatery that gave it a nice, at-home feel that he loved. A scented candle burned in the background. Ursula had the menu up to her face, and when he gently pulled it down, he noticed tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I hate that damn report," she said with a grimace. "I know Downing Chemical contaminated the land and water in Freeland, but I don't know what happened to it." She sat back in her chair for a moment, stretched, and then her back popped. "You stood up to Superman," Ursula said with disbelief in her voice. "He's like the strongest man on the planet."

Bay (TJ) laughed, and said, "I stood up for what was right. For a split second, Superman was on the wrong side of the equation."

She smirked. "That Vulcan guy addressed the UN about six months ago, and told the Korean President off in front of the world."

"Really?" He asked. "What happened?"

"They said they needed to review his report further before making a decision. But the reason the Vulcan went off was that the President of Korea insisted he removed his mask."

He paused for a moment, and said, "I do recall that."

She looked down at the table for a moment with a blank stare. "I fear Downing Chemical won't have to pay for what they've done to Freeland."

"They have deep pockets," he said, "So, they probably won't pay."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Monday 5, 2019…

Jennifer walked into the living room, turned the television to the news, and saw Randy Rush standing in the middle of the Metropolis Zoo. He stood next to the gorilla display, and there were people walking behind him.

"I don't know if I care for this Vulcan guy," Mister James, a local resident of Metropolis said to the Action News Four reporter, Randy Rush. He was an older man with silver hair, a short beard, and wearing a baseball cap with a Metropolis Horn Dogs logo on the front. "He took our Gorilla display away because he said it was an intelligent lifeform." The man laughed as he held his stomach, and then he said, "I wish these super-freaks spent more time fighting for human rights instead of animal rights."

"And there you have it, Blake," Randy Rush said as he quickly turned from the overweight complainer. "The general consensus is the Vulcan sucks. Back to you, Blake."

News Action Four Segment:

Apparently, the people of Freeland demands action against Downing Chemical for contaminating their water and land, but when the inspectors surveyed the contamination, they couldn't find an ounce of radiation. Now, we did a segment on the contamination six months ago and the place teemed with radioactive waste. So, something happened between now and then, but this lowly anchorman doesn't have a clue where it all went.

Now, we have to be honest about the contamination in Freeland. Somebody cleaned up the spill but is that somebody going to get paid for a job well done. In addition, where does that leave the city of Freeland with their forty million dollar lawsuit against Downing Chemical?"

In other news, two people thought to be killed by the cops are walking around Freeland alive and well: Thong Ryan and Doctor Gina Nelson. You might know about the novelist, Nick Ryan's son, Thong, being shot in the back by the cops. Well, we have reports that the kid brought a Graveyard Shake at Bang Bang Burgers with his father yesterday. Well, he's alive and well. In addition, Doctor Gina Nelson was supposedly shot by the cops, and that was what kicked off her son's rampage against the officers of Freeland. I found out she didn't die from the bullet wound, but her son Bay Nelson is responsible for the deaths of over twenty law enforcement officers.

The Fallen Officer Fund, started by Sarah Jackson and Vincent Sparks, has accumulated over ten point two million dollars, and it's still rising, folks. At the bottom of your screen is the web page where you can donate ten, twenty, or whatever amount you choose. That money is going to a good place. It's helping bury the fallen officers and also helping with the medical care of the officers who were injured during the melee.

Now, I want everybody within the sound of my voice to say a little prayer for Officer Jackie Davison and Officer Ray Staples. They're two, fine Freeland police officers who lost their legs chasing that metahuman, Bay Nelson. If your tip helps put Bay Nelson behind bars, you'll receive a lump sum of fifty million dollars That ends our six o'clock program, Metropolis. Goodnight! God bless.

End of Segment

Jennifer walked outside, into the cool night air, and then down the road. The melee that happened in mid-February perturbed Freeland, and now a distrust of the cops grew larger. Everybody knew it wouldn't take much of a disruption to pit the cops against the black residents of Freeland, and as far as she could tell, the media facilitated the pain. The cops arrested several members of the One Hundred and charged them with facilitating Bay Nelson. One of the kids arrested was Reese Johnson, but he didn't know about his friend's whereabouts either.

Mister Ryan addressed the City Council earlier in the day, and a lot of students showed up to the meeting. He charged the police with making threatening statements against the black citizens of Freeland and facilitating a menacing environment. All the cops who attended the meeting turned their backs on Mister Ryan, and then said, "Your money is no longer good here." When he left the meeting, he found out the cops raided his wife's business and found a bag of cannabis on the premises.

Regardless of the climate, it felt like cops prodded the citizens of Freeland like animals in a pen. Since her Uncle John left the force, there wasn't one honest police officer in town. When a cop saw another officer committing a crime, there was no intervention. Not one cop on the Freeland PD wanted to be a snitch, and tell about his buddy's misdeeds. It didn't matter the black person's position in town when it came to the crooked cops. They had the law on their side regardless of what they did, and nobody could effectively fight for a black man and win. It wasn't feasible.

She took a paseo down Main Street because the breeze felt good. The hoodlums took their positions on the corners. A few daffodils popped up their heads in the grassy parts. Several patrol cops slowed down, flashed their flashlights in her face, but she kept walking as if they weren't there. She didn't want to deal with any criminal cops, but since they had all the power, they could do anything they wanted to, and she didn't have any real recourse.

Lisa Taylor sat in front of Bang Bang Burger and ate her sandwich when Jennifer sat next to her. She was a light brown color, a pecan color with short curly hair. From what she could tell, Lisa's visage was peaceful and her demeanor was calm. She had always been a pleasant person at school, and that was what Jennifer liked about the girl.

"It's a nice night," she said, "I was at home studying for Misses Winston's test."

Lisa looked over at her, smiled, and said, "I'm not worried about it at this point. I so badly want out of this town." She placed her hamburger on her paper plate, and then said, "It's noxious. The chemical plant poisons us on a daily basis, but all of a sudden nobody can find traces of the chemicals in the soil. I'm tired. We don't just worry about the street gangs, but the cops are our biggest enemies."

"I feel the same way," she said softly. "I thought I was special, but then I grew up."

"The animus rises in me more and more every day," she said, "I was there when that cop shot Thong in the back, stood on his head with his right boot, and then told the news that the kid attacked him." She pulled out a pack of cigarettes, tapped them against the table, and pulled two of them out: one for her and one for Jennifer. "So, when Bay killed those cops, I cheered. I'm not going to lie. Does it make me a bad person to cheer for him?"

"We're like sardines in a can," she said with a grimace on her face. "They're pacifying us with religion while killing us with chemicals and guns. It's obey or die."

"Bay Nelson might still be in Freeland, but I doubt it," Lisa said, "I overheard some people say he was going to Little Africa."

"They'll catch him soon," she said, "There's just no way anybody will turn down fifty million dollars."

"Catch him?" Lisa laughed. "They don't catch black boys, Jennifer. They kill them."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Metropolis: March 8, 2019…

The Vulcan landed in his full uniform in front of the Federal Courthouse with a stack of papers. The entire Freeland City Council and the board from Downing Chemical stood on the steps. When the Vulcan walked over to the podium outside of the courthouse for a news conference, the people on both sides of the aisles started screaming.

"We don't need your interference," President Pina from Downing Chemical screamed directly at the young hero.

"You will quiet your tone," The Vulcan said calmly. "Make no mistake, you purposely contaminated the city of Freeland. You'll pay for it. I can promise you that." The man in the black uniform, mask, and black boots turn to the crowd of angry faces. Some of the anger was at him because the media said on several occasions that the Vulcan interfered in progress. He was only there, to tell the truth. Everything about his demeanor spoke of a subtle calmness.

A white man who stood in the sea of black people screamed, "We don't want you here." The scowl on his face caused the Vulcan to pause for a moment. He acted like a shill to turn the concerned citizens against the hero, and it was of some concerned to the Vulcan. "You're standing in the way of the people getting their money."

With great concern, the young hero gave the man a good once over, and then went deep into his mind with his telepathic abilities. He basically said, "For each lie, your body temperature will rise two degrees." Then, in front of the entire crowd, the Vulcan asked, "Are you here on behalf of Downing Chemical?"

"No. I'm just a concerned citizen," he said. Suddenly, he grabbed his forehead because his body temperature began to rise.

"Are you trying to undermine me?" He asked the man.

"Of course not," he said, "I'm just trying to do what's right." The man passed out in the crowd and then began to throw up on his shirt.

"Are you here on behalf of Downing Chemical?" The Vulcan asked again.

"Yes!" He screamed. When he told the truth, his temperature dropped to normal.

"I'm here on behalf of the people of Freeland and because Downing Chemical owes me for the chemical clean-up," he said calmly. "I cleaned up the chemicals in Freeland due to the fact it was killing the people. When I analyzed the area, the dangerous substance was sinking deeper into the soil. President Pina, you should be in prison for what you've done, and you will pay full price for the cleanup." The Vulcan pulled out an invoice, handed it to the President of Downing Chemical.

The man looked at the bottom line, and screamed, "Six hundred million dollars!"

"Yes. That's right. It's only right that you pay for your mistakes," the hero said, "You've dragged the good citizens of Freeland through the mud in the media. You've made good people who only wanted clean water, a healthy community, and educated children into monsters."

President Pina laughed, ripped up the paper, and then threw it on the ground, "Downing Chemical won't pay you anything, sir. I can promise you that!"

"Not only will you pay, but you'll pay in full," he said, "There's no court in this universe that will keep me from my money. I suggest you meet with your board members, shareholders, and every decision maker at Downing Chemical, and come up with my money. I want you to think about how much this would have cost you if a team of individuals had to clean up the radioactive waste."

The President of Downing Chemical screamed, "This fool is crazy. We're out of here." The crowd let out a loud gasp and then watched the shareholders march off the stage. The Vulcan watched them as their feet hit each step of the platform. As the shareholders of Downing Chemical marched down the steps, the President of Downing Chemical got all the way to his car, but the door wouldn't open. He struggled with it several times, and then he looked back at the Vulcan.

"Mister President?" the Vulcan said.

"What?" He said with a nastiness in his voice.

"Your first act of contrition will start with picking up the paper you tore up and threw on the ground. It's obvious you're about to learn some painful lessons in this late-stage of life."

"What's that?" He asked.

"That you have to pay for contaminating my world," he said, "This goes to every company who's listening to my voice. This is a warning to you all. Clean up your messes. Now, pick up your paper."

The man stood by his car with his arms folded like he was refusing to clean up his mess. When the Vulcan went into his mind, he made the man think his skin was on fire, and then he started screaming and writhing in pain. He fell to the ground, rolled around for about a minute, and tried to run down the street.

"What's wrong with him?" One young lady asked.

"He's probably suffering from a chemical burn," an old lady said. "Serves him right."

The Vulcan couldn't stand the old man because he knew he played an essential role in the contamination of Freeland. So, the young hero thought it was in his best interest to use less than favorable methods to persuade the board members. It was the only way for the Vulcan to get across to the man that he wasn't playing games. Due to the fact that he was a pudgy man, he didn't have the stamina to keep running. He fell down in the middle of the street, about a block from the courthouse, and he could hear the man breathing loudly.

The Vulcan looked directly at Mister Ryan as he stood with the people of Freeland, and asked, "What will the city do with the forty million dollars, Mister Ryan?"

"We can put more into education and improve the town's infrastructure," he said with a scowl on his face. "Better training for the police officers."

"Who are the media people in the crowd?" The Vulcan asked. Several people raised their hands, and then when they did, Orion flew over to them.

"Can I have your email addresses?" Orion asked. As the people started giving her their email addresses, she was sending them the video of the Vulcan cleaning up the waste.

"You're receiving the videos in your email accounts," the Vulcan said, "It's me cleaning up the waste so you'll have evidence. Now, do you have any questions of me?"

One of the reporters raised his right hand high in the sky, and the Vulcan said, "Go ahead, Mister Kent!"

"I'm all behind the clean up in Freeland, but isn't the price tag a little steep?"

"Orion, do you want to answer this?" The Vulcan asked.

"Yes," she said, "I priced the cleanup at six hundred and twenty-five million," she said, "We gave them a twenty-five million dollar discount. When a company recklessly contaminates the places where we eat, sleep, live, and play, they should be punished and punished severely. In addition, Downing Chemical knew they contaminated the area but allowed for the media to slander the fine citizens of Freeland. Not one member from Downing Chemical tried to intervene in the way the media reported the news. Honestly, I wanted to charge them the full price, but the Vulcan said he would charge them the six hundred million dollars and call it a day."

"Thank you, Orion," Clark Kent said.

"I"m paying Freeland forty million out of my pocket," the Vulcan said, "So, for the people who think I'm being greedy, I don't work for free. We live in a capitalistic society, and it's about making money at the end of the day." A young Asian woman had her hands raised, and the Vulcan knew exactly who she was. It was Peppermint's cousin. "Go ahead, Ursula!"

"You know me?" She asked.

"Just asked your question, little lady," he said.

"Okay. I'm with Action Four News, and I want to know will this deter Downing Chemical from destroying the environment in the future?"

"I doubt it," he said, "But I can't speak for Downing me six hundred million dollars, however, will rub them the wrong way, but it's up to you and you and all of you to elect city officials who stand up for not only your rights but your health. Find out the politicians who took money from Downing Chemical because they're the ones who helped contaminate Freeland. I implore anybody who cares about the environment to do their due diligence and protect it." The young hero paused for a moment, and then said, "Any more questions?" An older, balding man from Catco Media raised his hand, then the Vulcan said, "Go ahead, Snapper."

"Have you and the President of South Korea kissed and made up?" Snapper said laughingly.

The Vulcan laughed for a moment, and then said, "Not yet, but I'm open to talking with him because building the New Justice Corp is important. I think we can all agree we're not alone in this universe. We have Superman, Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, and me, and we're all from different worlds. My best friend, Orion, is a computer from Doraxia. We have a Lantern visiting from a planet called Moxia with over six hundred billion citizens on it. When the new Lantern recruit leaves Earth, he will go to a planet called Oa with over one hundred billion beings on it. It's time for us to put down our petty differences, and build a new Justice Corp that comprises of men and women with integrity from all over the world. Our ecosystem is a rarity in the universe with water, food sources, and an abundance of precious minerals. If we're invaded by an alien world with our current weapon systems, we will lose. And when aliens come to this planet by the masses, humans will be the number one food source. So, when a teacher doesn't teach a student the fundamentals, we lose a valuable asset. When a young person dies, we lose another precious asset. For humanity to be better, it starts in the classrooms." The Vulcan looked down at the podium for a moment, and then said, "That's the end of my press briefing, folks."

Rachel Vincent: Chief Financial Officer of Downing Chemical

Rachel Vincent kept a lifesize statue of Superman in her office, and it stood in the far right corner of the room. The bronze statue of the Man of Steel looked straight ahead, chin in the air, and with pride.

She was about thirty-five years old with graying black hair. She didn't wear that much makeup, and usually wore pants suits to work. On her desk, she had a stack of proposals on the cost of the chemical cleanup in Freeland, and all the estimates were above seven hundred and fifty million dollars, and when Downing Chemical did their own estimate, it came to six-hundred and twenty-five million dollars. If the company decided to pay the Vulcan the six hundred million dollars he asked, they would still come out ahead. She received the mass email from President Pina, a stingy man who wanted to ignore the Vulcan since the job was already completed. Even though she didn't think it was right not to pay him, he didn't sign a contract with them in advance; therefore, she agreed to vote no on live television not to pay him.

When she stacked the papers on her desk in a nice, little pile, she noticed the eyes of the statue gawking at her. Thinking back, she thought the statue was looking straight ahead, and it disturbed her. For a long while, she studied it just to see if it would move. She had taken a picture of the statue on several occasions, and when she displayed a picture of the statue on her computer screen, it was staring directly at her holding a sign: "Give me my fucking money!" It scared her badly, and she nearly fell over in her chair. When she opened the curtains behind her desk, the statue looked at her through the window, and it caused her to stumble over her desk chair. "Give me my fucking money," a loud voice said from the hallway. Immediately, she grabbed a pistol from her purse, ran into the hallway, and then saw a man with black pants run into the men's bathroom. She cocked the hammer of the gun and expected to shoot whatever moved. Without thinking, she charged into the bathroom but didn't see anybody. She looked under each stall but didn't see any feet. When she kicked open the first door, it was empty, but she had the pistol in the ready position. She kicked in the next two stalls, and they were empty too. But when she kicked in the fourth stall, the bronze statue grabbed her pistol, whacked her across the face, and screamed, "Give me my money!" Tightly, she closed her eyes in the hopes that she was dreaming, and when she opened them, the statue was still in front of her. "Give me my money or you'll never sleep again."

Later in the evening….

Rachel sat by the nice fireplace in her plush home. She poured herself a glass of wine, watched some television, and saw the segment where the Vulcan cleaned up the contamination. When she finished watching it, she walked over to the couch, but something didn't feel right. The wine went down smoothly, and the atmosphere was perfect. But when she looked into the dining room, the bronze statue of Superman gawked at her and put fear in her heart. She turned the television back on, but the statue was on television looking at her.

"Fine! I'll vote yes," she said, "Just leave me alone."

"If you deny me my money, you'll never find peace in this life," he said to her telepathically."

Nick Mosley: Secretary to the board…

Nick had a young, half-nude African American prostitute in his house by the name of April Apple. She had a slender waist with a nice, round bottom. She wore a pink skirt with no panties but had on pink socks. The middle-aged man purchased the items for her because she was his new, favorite girl. He killed the last one during an episode of rough sex. During his longer than usual climax, he wrapped his thick hands around the girl's tiny neck, squeezed it for too long, and then she died. A week earlier, when it happened, he drove the girl to the far end of Metropolis, buried her body, and burned her clothes. But when he looked at April Apple, he wanted to make sure he used precautions with the young lady. Her body was near perfect, and he couldn't wait to penetrate her sexually. She scent was fresh, green apples, and when he bent over her, he stuck his right hand between her legs.

"You're so wet and tight," he said in a grunting voice. Quickly, he undid his belt, and let his pants fall to his ankles. She grabbed him by his penis, pulled it into her, and then inserted it into her vagina.

"Oh. The Vulcan said that he wants his money," she said whispering in his ear.

Nick stopped humping her for a moment, and laughed, "You tell that freak he's never getting his money."

"Is that your final word?" She asked.

"Yes," he said, 'Now be the fuck quiet about it." He raised up for a moment, repositioned himself, and something tightened around his penis. It felt good for a moment, but then it was like he wasn't penetrating her at all. He reached between his legs to make another attempt to insert his member, but he couldn't find it. When he backed away from her, he realized she severed his phallus. He began screaming as she held it in her hand. Suddenly, he woke up in the middle of his bed, checked for his manhood, and it was intact. The young woman lay next to him with her apple bottom facing him. It looked appetizing. "I must be going crazy," he said softly." He scooted closer to his prostitute, and his hard member searched out her wet spot. He could feel her juices flowing, and it felt nice as it cupped his manhood tightly.

"The Vulcan wants his money," she said softly and in an ominous voice.

"What was that?" He said as he looked at the back of her head. As soon as he finished asking the question, he felt a sharp pain between his legs, and it caused him to twitch. "What the fuck?" When he backed away from her, another stream of blood from his severed penis shot through the air. He rolled around on the bed, laid flat on his back, and then the Vulcan straddled him.

"Give me my money," he said, "Or I'll never release you from this hell."

Nick hopped out of bed, and his penis was intact. The young prostitute turned over with her legs spread, and she had steel teeth in her vagina. They opened and closed like they were spring loaded, and it put fear in the man. "Give the Vulcan his money," she screamed as the steel teeth made a chopping noise, "Or your hand will be the only sex you know."

"I'll pay him," he said, "I'll vote yes for the world to see."

"If you try to rip me off, I'll never free your mind," the Vulcan whispered telepathically.

Eric Sapien: Board member

Sally's Boys, a nice bar in Metropolis was partially crowded with about one hundred people on the inside around eight o'clock in the evening. Some soft music played in the background as some redneck, country boys played pool on the upper deck. An Asian girl and black man kissed passionately in the middle of the floor, and Eric hated the sight of interracial relationships. When he looked back at the kissing couple, he scowled at it. A black man in a booth seat screamed, "She's marrying material, TJ!"

A group of young women walked into the bar, sat with the black man, and he buried his burnt face in their bosoms like he owned them. That caused nothing more than pure bitterness in Eric Sapien's heart. He stumbled over to the table with the black man and group of girls, and said, "Your parents would be ashamed of you! Whoring yourself to a nig..."

"Oh my gawd," one of the girls screamed, "You're so old school." She laughed.

"Go away," the black man said, "It would be in your best interest."

The man stumbled towards the exit, and screamed, "Blacks should stay with blacks, whites should stay with whites, and Asians should stay with Asians. It's the way God wanted it."

He stumbled out the door, climbed into his Mercedes, and his driver drove him to his mansion on the fringes of Metropolis. He had a large, black and very muscular driver who only spoke when spoken to, and he liked it like that. His driver's name was Lucas Cornwell, a college educated man who made more money driving than teaching. Eric didn't want an uppity black man driving him around who didn't know his place. He had a hot wife who was only thirty-three, and a twenty-one-year-old daughter from his first marriage. The previous night his wife Sharon dyed her hair to the perfect blonde color that he liked.

"Sir, the Vulcan told me he wanted his money," Lucas said, "He said it would be an error in judgment to deny him his money."

Eric set his hands on his lap and sighed. "I'm not paying that monster a dime. I don't give a damn about some nig-tards dying from cancer," he said laughingly. "I never had any intentions of cleaning up that swamp called Freeland."

The old man felt a slight pressure on his frontal lobe, and then an image of his wife riding a muscular black man popped into his mind. He tried to not think about his wife cheating on him with a black man, but then he turned his wife over in his mind and had sex with her like a dog. "Oh, god," he said.

"What was that, sir?" Lucas asked.

"Nothing," he said, "I'm trying to think." The image of a dark-skinned, black man plowing his lily white wife filled every section of his mind. He saw the man grab her by the hair, cock her head back, and slam her from behind. She was repeatedly telling him how much she enjoyed him, and then when he saw the man's face, it was Lucas. He gasped. _There's no way these images are true_ , he thought as it continued.

When Lucas pulled up to the driveway, he ran out of his car, up the steps, and saw his wife sprawled out on the floor with a huge black man on top of her. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What's going on?" He asked loudly.

"What does it look like?" She said while the man pounded her. He didn't know the image wasn't real, and his wife was upstairs asleep. All he could see was what the Vulcan wanted him to see, and that was his wife cheating. Suddenly, his daughter came from the kitchen, into the living room with another black man, and they started having sex on the couch.

"Hi, Daddy," she said, "You're welcomed to watch." He grabbed a hold of his chest, sat on the floor behind the couch, and tried to block out the moans of his wife and daughter. Every man had fears that raced through his mind, and when it came to Eric, his greatest fear was his wife and daughter having sex with back men.

"This is the Vulcan, Eric," he said telepathically. "Your wife and daughter aren't really in front of you. I'm making you see what I want you to see."

"Why would you do this to me?" He asked.

"You owe me six hundred million dollars," he said telepathically. "Give me my money or I'll intensify this nightmare. You won't be able to escape my mind."

"I'll vote yes," he said, "I will."

Michael Hensley: Board Member

(1992)

Winter rushed into Metropolis like it rode in on horseback in the fall of nineteen ninety-two. Michael Hensley, an eighteen-year-old first-year college student had a wife, Tina Hensley, and a child, Page Hensley, and they resided in a small house on the fringes of the city. He recalled last September to be cold, but it was even colder in ninety-two, and due to the price of college tuition, he didn't have enough money to keep the electricity running. He used the last of his funds to buy a small, portable generator to give him enough electricity for basic heat, but the family struggled to stay warm nonetheless. In those days, he didn't have any support from his family because his father was in prison and his mother was addicted to heroin. He tried his best to stay as far away from his family as possible, and when it came to his wife's people, they didn't care for him because they knew he came from a worthless family.

Michael worked a part-time job after his last class at the university; consequently, his wife stayed at home with the baby, and in mid-September, it was already in the thirties outside. He worked long hours at the shop, and he wanted to just go home, sleep, and then he'd be ready to return to the shop the next day. When he made it to his house on the fringes of Metropolis, he saw several first-responders on the scene. At first, he wondered what happens, but he didn't think anything was wrong at home because his wife didn't call him. When he parked his car behind the fleet of fire engines, he ran up to his house, and his Momma was bent over crying and gagging, but on the inside of the house, his wife and baby were dead. He tried to race into the small structure, but the firemen kept him from running into it.

"They're dead, son," the fire chief stated plainly. "We just now shut off the generator. It will take about thirty more minutes before we can render the home safe to enter."

Little Africa (JJ's Apartment)...

JJ lay on his back in the middle of the floor, throwing a small, red ball into the air, and minding his own business. Peppermint sat on the couch, bottle fed the baby, and played solitaire with Veo, her palm computer. Vera sat on the Easy-Boy, with her shoes off, and listened to music on her headphones. She had the footrest pulled out, and her toenails looked as if she hadn't groomed them in a while. When Orion flew into the room, he made mention of her feet.

"Vera, cut your damn toenails," she said, "You need to keep those little monsters trimmed." She opened up a small compartment on her backside and tossed her some toenail clippers. "I want them back when you're done."

"Fine," she said.

JJ looked over at Orion, and then said, "What woke you up?" He continued to bounce the ball, but his friend didn't say anything to him at all, but a series of lights blinked on her front panel.

"What did you do?" She asked. "You've changed history."

The young man sat up, and then Peppermint asked, "What was that?"

"Saving lives fundamentally changed history," she said, "You went back in time and saved a woman and child from dying, but you sent them to Europe to live. Why did you do that?"

"Leverage," he said with a grimace. "It was Michael Hensley's family. I didn't want to save his wife and daughter and let that interfere with his progression, but after they perished from carbon monoxide poisoning, I revived them, took them to Europe, and set up a fund so they could live comfortably."

"You shouldn't be interfering with time," Peppermint snapped, "It's all fun and games until you wipe out humanity."

"I've done the calculations," he said, "Page Hensley (Carly Thorn) is now a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics and a new employee at Downing Chemical."

"But you allowed this man to grow old and bitter without the woman he did it all for, JJ," Orion said, "I think you're wrong on this one. You already have enough Downing Chemical board members to get your money. Must you have complete and utter control over them all?"

"Yes," JJ said in an angry voice. "You don't poison a people, and then live your life like nothing happened."

"Your rage is palpable," Peppermint said, "You embarrassed the president of Downing Chemical in front of the entire world. You need to get it under control. For humanity to be better, we must set the example. It's the only way."

"She's right," Orion said.

Vera took off her headphones and then said, "So, you've been working on a new Red Raider suit. I've been training with James Olsen on combative skills. I've been learning tech stuff with Winn. Can I be a hero now?"

JJ looked at her seriously for a moment and then laughed. "Never. I'm not risking it."

"I'm just as good as anybody," she said, "James told me I have skills. Why don't you trust me?"

Orion laughed at her, and then said, "Girl, trim those toenails, and we'll think about it."

Vera hopped off the chair, ran to the bathroom, slammed the door, and screamed, "You never give me a chance!"

"Why are y'all teasing her?" Peppermint said. "You have her name stitched in the suit. Why don't you just tell her?"

"It's a birthday surprise," JJ said. "We've been training her since I ripped the Red Raider suit off Lena. I've taken that design and made a suit just for her. It meets her body specifications and everything. It should protect her from mind manipulations or Supergirl's right hook."

"Does it still have the Kryptonian Contingency in pace?" Peppermint asked.

"Yes," Orion said, "We've enhanced it."

"Supergirl will take that personally," Peppermint said.

"She told us to do it," he said. "It's a contingency in the suit in case a Kryptonian threat comes to our planet."

Michael Hensley's Small House: March 9, 2019…

Michael woke in the middle of the night, about one o'clock in the morning to the sound of footsteps. Immediately, he hopped out of bed, turned on the lamp next to his bed, and saw the Vulcan sitting in a chair right next to his bed.

"Shit!" Michael exclaimed. "What the fuck, man?"

The Vulcan laughed. Orion sat on his right shoulder while he looked directly at the middle-aged man. "Your income level has changed, but you're still crass and uncouth," the Vulcan said. "Michael, why do you live in this house? It's where your family died."

"You don't know me," he said, "I don't know you."

"I actually do know you, you hateful bastard," he said with a grimace. "I know you've made some horrible decisions in your life. I know that, but I also know you're willing to vote yes on giving me my money."

"Paying you is a lot cheaper than paying some of the other companies," he said with a chuckle. "I'm looking at the long-term profits."

"Can I be honest with you?" The Vulcan asked.

"I would hope so," he said with a grimace.

"I often look at Supergirl and think she's so strong, so beautiful, but she's not from the realm of gods," he said, "I'm from a dominion of old gods who pretty much aren't concerned with mortal men any longer. We imbued your world with our knowledge so she may grow, and the people one day will become gods. Unfortunately, ignorance has grown rampant in the world, and humanity has an expiration date because of its greed. I looked at your life, invaded your privacy, and I saw your struggle. I experienced your hurt as you tried to reconcile what you did wrong that caused the death of your family. You were just a poor boy who wanted more in life, but you experienced the ultimate pain. I don't know why I did what I did, but I traveled back through time and saw your family die. As soon as your momma opened the door, I pulled her out of the house, called the fire department, and then watched as you struggled with your loss. Later, I took your wife and child from the morgue, replaced them with fancy replicas, and revived your family. I took them to London, England, set them up in a nice flat, and paid them a livable wage until your daughter earned her Ph.D. You personally hired Carly Thorn last week to work in your Physics Department. Her real name is Page Hensley."

"But I saw their bodies!" He exclaimed.

"I wanted to bring your daughter back into your life in nineteen ninety-four, but you had a serious battle with testicular cancer. All of your time and money went to improving your health. I calculated the results of bringing your family to you in two thousand, and your family would have perished on a plane trip during a vacation to Europe. Even now I have to ask you not to involve yourself in your daughter's life because you're not a good fit. In fact, I think you should fire her, and I will encourage the people of Cadmus to hire her. Enjoy her from afar, Mister Hensley."

Orion flew into the air, close to the ceiling, and then displayed some active film footage of Mister Hensley's wife walking down the street of London. She was a slender woman with graying black hair. "This is your wife, Mister Hensley," Orion said, "Her name is Sharon Thorn."

The man looked at the video, and then asked, "Is she married?"

"No," she said, "She has all the things she needs in life. She's healthy. She's happy. She's alive."

The Vulcan stood to his feet, straightened out his uniform, and looked directly at the old man. "So, this is your gift for doing the right thing," the Vulcan said. "Your family lives."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

March 9, 2019: Metropolis-Patterson's Mall

Bay and Ursula stood in the middle of Dora's Clothing and Accessories, and she had already tried on several outfits, but she didn't like them. He did, but she didn't. Laying on the bench outside the changing room, he looked at his watch, and it was only nine o'clock in the morning. Every employee at Action News Four anticipated a call from Downing Chemical announcing publicly that they wouldn't pay the Vulcan for his services. The media made the hero out to be the bad guy, and Downing Chemical appeared to have the support of the people. What made Bay nervous was the fact every company said that the cleanup would last four years, but the Vulcan cleaned it up in less than two minutes. This meant his powers were beyond anything that he could fathom, and if the god chose to use his powers against humanity, he believed mankind would perish in the process.

The previous day-around one o'clock in the afternoon-News Action Four hired Ursula on fulltime, and Bay tried his best to vision where he fit in her new life. She pined for the opportunity to be in front of the camera, and she got her wish. The station hired her as the new, Onscene Crime Beat Reporter for the noon, four, five, and six o'clock broadcasts. She would be the go-to girl for all the local crime stories, and as far as he could tell, it suited her. They celebrated after she covered the press briefing involving the Vulcan, and she was overly excited about asking an important superhero a pertinent question involving Downing Chemical. At first, she wrote a propitious story about the Vulcan and how he saved Supergirl against an alien foe, but the station squashed it immediately and forced her to write a slanderous story about how he wanted to hurt the working man. She populated the entire article with scurrilous accusations, handed it to Mister Rush, and then hid in the bathroom for the next hour-and cried.

When she walked out of the changing room in her white dress, Bay (TJ) said, "Very nice."

"Can you please critique it?" She asked. "Tell me that it's nice doesn't help me."

"The dress fits your body perfectly," he said with a smile. "You'll look good on camera. People will take notice."

Smiling, she placed her hands on her chest, and said, "You really think so?"

"Yes. I do," he said with a smile. The expression on her face changed for a moment, and Bay took notice of her frown. "What's wrong?"

She tried to smile, but a tear fell out of her left eye. "I've been writing articles against black people that I know aren't correct," she said with a grimace. "I've literally praised the death of black kids in my writings. I've written that BLM was a terrorist organization with the same characteristics as the Klan, but I knew it was a lie."

"You did that?" He said with a grimace. "That's disgusting." He tried his best to see past her misdeeds, but it rubbed him like skidding across sandpaper in shorts. His heart raced because of the anger flowing through his veins. First, he backed away from her, and couldn't read the sorrow in her face, and to be honest, he didn't know if he truly cared about a woman who could hurt the defenseless with her words so freely. Walking out of the dressing area, she began screaming that she was sorry, and then he said, "You have your career. Be satisfied with that." Her betrayal truly hurt him because those articles perpetuated self-hate in the black community. It was a form of bullying the black community and led to kids growing up feeling less than they should. He realized the previous day when she wrote a bad article about the Vulcan that he needed to back away from her because he wanted payment for work done.

He stood on the escalator as it took him down to the first floor, and then he heard Ursula's voice. "TJ, wait up?" She asked. A part of him wanted to remain facing forward as if he didn't have the love for the girl, but he couldn't help but turn around to see her at the top of the escalator. She was still in the clothes she had tried on, tears raced down her face, and begging him to wait. Something inside of his mind told him to go back to her, but he was hurt. He truly needed time to think about things because he did care about her. She was like a bruised apple, tremendously beautiful on the outside and pretty tasty if the brown parts were avoided. When she trampled down the escalator he could hear her feet clopping away, and in a matter of seconds, she stood in front of him.

"Is this what you do?" She asked.

"What?" He said.

"You make a girl feel like it's safe to open her heart to you, then you just run away like she doesn't matter," she said with tears rolling down her face. "I love you, TJ Jones."

"I just needed time to think about things," he said with a smile. Placing the palm of his right hand against her left cheek, and smiled at her. "I hope you're malleable like clay and can report the news without the biases and stereotypes. We're better off by being better, Ursula."

"I can," she said, "Just be careful with my heart.

Bay (TJ) stood in front of Ursula, with compassion in his eyes, and an agonizing pain in his heart, but at the same time, he knew he loved her, needed her, and desired her. Maybe he just wanted to see if she would cry if he left or remain stern and rigid like she couldn't empathize with his pain. Hugging her gently, he said, "I don't want you to think I'm a creep. It's important to me to be loved," he said softly. "I'm going to flood you with all my love. Maybe that's weird. Maybe I'm weird." He chuckled. "Maybe love is weird, but I do love you."

Later in the morning…

Some of the staff at Action News Four had been at work over the last twenty-four hours in the hope Downing Chemical would reject the Vulcan's demand for payment. Bay (TJ) noticed several of the higher-ups, like Blake Whitney, frothing at the mouth. Ursula wore her brand new, black business dress that made her look like a hot librarian. She sat in Mister Rush's desk and Bay sat on the other side of the desk writing an article in case Downing Chemical decided to give the Vulcan the money.

"It's nice you're writing a contingency, but it's a long shot that Downing Chemical will pay the Vulcan," Mister Rush said, "I did some research, and he's already worth over three hundred million."

"Really? How did he become so rich?" Bay (TJ) asked.

"It's classified," he said, "But he's contracted with Wayne Corp and Cadmus. I'm going to take a wild guess that he has a patent or two to some badass tech."

"It makes sense to why he's able to address the UN," Ursula quipped, "He's not normal like the rest of us."

"Okay, Ursula, I'm sharing the document with you for editing," Bay (TJ) said, "It's just a five hundred word piece on if Downing Chemical votes yes on giving the Vulcan the money."

An older woman-Sara Candy-ran through the hallway screaming, "The President of Downing Chemical will make the announcement in five minutes."

"Shit!" Mister Rush exclaimed. "I didn't expect it to be that fast."

"I"m forwarding TJ's document to your tablet," Ursula said, "Just in case."

"Okay," he said as he ran out of the room.

Bay ran out to the newsroom, and Randy Rush was at the main news desk waiting for the President to speak. He slid into his fancy, black business suit, and looked like he owned the building. He sat in the center of the news desk because he was the only person delivering the report. The other noontime people were on their way to Downing Chemical, including Ursula Lee. When the cameras focused in on Downing Chemical, the Vulcan sat behind the President as he walked up to the podium.

The President of Downing Chemical:

How is everybody doing this Saturday afternoon? The board members and I have been discussing what has taken place in Freeland. First of all, the surrounding areas in Freeland were highly contaminated due to unexpected leaks that we've already fixed. The chemicals soaked into the soil and killed all the vegetation on the fringes of town. In addition, it decimated the indigenous animal life in the area and made it completely uninhabitable. Over the last thirty years, the cancer rates in Freeland were above the national average each year that Downing Chemical was in production.

In twenty-fourteen, we met with Freeland's City Council about cleaning up the infected site. We met with over seven, possible companies who could have cleaned up the waste, but it was over a four-year-process and would have interfered with production. In addition, the longer an individual remained in the contaminated area the greater the risk of developing cancer. This meant any worker who spent a considerable amount of time in the area would most likely die in a few years from the contamination. The lowest bid to clean up the site was seven-hundred and fifty million dollars, and none of the businesses could guarantee they could restore life to the area or bring the contaminations down to zero.

We viewed the video footage of the Vulcan sanitizing the entire area, and what would have taken four years only took him two minutes. Several agencies outside of Downing Chemical scrubbed the area for any traces of the radioactive carcinogens, and couldn't find any vestiges of the stuff. When looking at all the estimates and time for the work, we've decided to pay the Vulcan six hundred and twenty-five million dollars for his work because he has saved us a considerable amount of time and money. We want to thank the Vulcan for what he has done for Freeland and Downing Chemical.

End of Briefing

The President of Downing Chemical immediately walked off the stage and didn't take any questions. He absconded from the scene, covered his face, and slithered his way into the building.

When the camera focused on Ursula, she said, "I'm Ursula Lee with Action News Four, and we just witnessed the President of Downing Chemical capitulate to the Vulcan's terms. Downing will pay six hundred and twenty-five million to Vulcan and also thanked him for saving Downing Chemical millions in time and money."

The feed focused on Mister Rush for a moment, and he said, "What's the atmosphere in the area?"

"Well, the Vulcan left, but the people of Freeland and the city council are elated about the decision. As you know, Randy, he promised the citizens of Freeland a forty million dollar check."

"I bet they'll enjoy that," he said, "I think today is a win for the people."

"I would agree," Ursula said with a huge smile. "I'm going to walk around, talk to some people, and I'll get back to you later."

"Okay, Ursula," Randy said as he shuffled his papers, and then read what Bay wrote. It was a positive story about the Vulcan, and how he took it upon himself to do what Downing Chemical was unwilling to do, and then Randy said, "He deserved the money." After that, Blake cut the power to the studio.

"What happened?" Randy asked.

"You're not going to read that fucking dribble on my watch," Blake said with a grimace. "This Vulcan character is a damn scam, and he took Downing Chemical for six hundred million dollars. I won't praise that."

"Aren't we about reporting the news?" Bay (TJ) said.

Sara Candy ran on the set and then said, "Listen, we give a conservative take on the issues no matter what. We throw the Vulcan under the bus, back the bus over him repeatedly, and then spin the wheels on his fucking face. That's what we do. That's what we always do. And when it comes to Freeland, black people, or any minority, we paint them with a broad brush and throw them in a negative light. Do I make myself clear?"

When Bay listened to the older, well-dressed white women discuss how Action News Four was supposed to treat black people and the people of Freeland, it overwhelmed him for a moment. He had always heard nobody cared about black people, but he also hoped it wasn't true. He gawked at Sara Candy as she stood in the middle of the newsroom, and gave the dos and don'ts when reporting on black people, and every news story had to have a negative spin. When negative media was inoculated about a group of people, it would eventually become the truth. The human mind couldn't naturally distinguish when the media told lies about a group. It was evident.

When he turned to leave the room, Sara Candy said, "Meet me in my office, TJ."

A few minutes later…

When TJ walked into her office, she had a statue of a black man hanging by a noose on her desk. It was hard for him to digest the blatant racism. For some reason, he thought people in Metropolis naturally had class. He felt the rage, the same rage that caused him to kill twenty-something cops, surface inside of him. It almost felt like he was running a low-grade fever. Her purse sat on the side of her desk, against the wall, and it was partially opened. A large, forty-four stuck out of it, and he should have known she was armed at all times.

"Have a seat!" She said in a strong, somewhat deep voice. When he sat down, she said, "I don't think you're a right fit for Action Four News." She paused for a moment, and then said, "You're just an intern, but I can tell by the look in your eyes that you're a bleeding heart liberal." She grabbed a handful of nuts, placed them on her desk, and cracked one of them with her fist. She plucked one of the brown nuts in her mouth, and said, "I was born and raised in Mississippi. Just the thought of hiring another unqualified black person on the job disgusts me." Suddenly, Bay's eyes turned completely yellow. He looked directly at Sara Candy, and then she gasped. "Your eyes."

"You should kill every racist person in the building," he said with a grimace. "Then kill yourself." When he stood up, she grabbed her pistol and loaded it with a full magazine.

"Get out of my building, TJ," she said with a calm voice.

When he saw the pistol, she didn't have to tell him to leave. Quickly, he stormed out of the room because he thought she was going crazy. But when he saw the noose on her desk, he realized he didn't belong at that news station, but at the same time, he thought he'd just leave quietly so he wouldn't cause any problems for Ursula. He walked out of the building, down the street, and sat in front of his motel room. In any case, he didn't want to make too many waves and charge Action Four News with a racism complaint because that would put his face on television. Besides, his entire persona was a sham. He read everything about being a reporter on the internet, and since he had somewhat decent writing skills and a fake college transcript, he got the internship.

All of a sudden, he heard like fifty police and ambulance sirens, and then he saw them racing down the street. At first, he didn't have an idea of what was happening. His phone beeped, and then he whispered, "I bet Ursula just go the word I was fired."

Text message from Ursula:

TJ! ARE YOU SAFE?

End of text

Suddenly, his phone rang, and it was Ursula on the other end, "Oh my gawd! Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said, "Sara Candy told me I wasn't a right fit for the job and fired me."

"So, you're not at the station?" She asked.

"No," he said with a smile. "Why are you acting so crazy?"

"Thank god," she said, "Sara went crazy, and shot Blake, Randy, Clive, and about fourteen other people in the station. We just received word to stay away from the place."

"How do you know this?" He asked.

"She televised it," she said, "She shot them all on camera. It was horrible."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

The baby was asleep in the back bedroom while Vera watched him, and JJ and Peppermint wrestle in the living room on the couch. She draped herself in a brown blanket while screwing her man wildly on the couch, and her body convulsed with each thrust. With the way she rode him, she caused the entire room to rumble because she used her super strength to thrust herself down on his manhood. Right when she was on the edge, Vera stormed into the room.

"You're going to want to see this," Vera said as she turned on the television. "Some woman shot up Action Four News."

"What was that?" JJ asked as Peppermint sat on his lap.

"Some woman shot up the place," she said, "The report said she lined them up on the ground, and put a bullet in the back of their heads."

JJ reached for his phone, and it flew to his hands. Immediately, he called Ursula, and said, "Ursula! This is JJ. Are you okay?"

"I'm good," she said, "I was in Freeland at Bang Bang Burgers when it all went down. TJ's safe too."

"TJ?" He asked.

"My boyfriend," she said, "We've been dating a few weeks now. Did Peppermint have the baby?"

"Yeah. A baby boy and he's handsome." He paused for a moment, and then said, "I'm sure the station will be closed down for a moment," he said, "Do you need anything? I can wire you a few thousand dollars," He said, "That'll hold you over until you can get back to work."

"I'm good," she said, "Thanks for asking, though. Why didn't y'all come and visit me when you came to Freeland? I'm only fifteen miles away."

"I know, but Peppermint gave birth the same day of the festivities," he said, "We were in the hospital almost the whole time. I'm going to give her the phone, so she can talk to you. We'll be down at some point. Tell your Momma we said, 'Hi!'"

"Okay," she said.

He handed the phone to his Fiancee, and she hopped off of him while completely nude. He was still erect, and then when he stood up to slide on his underwear, he noticed Vera caught a quick glance at his business. She quickly turned away while he pulled up his underwear.

"It looks like eighteen died but Mister Rush is alive," she said as she sat on the floor watching the news. "He only received a leg wound."

"Veo? Orion?" JJ screamed. "What good are you?"

"Really?" Orion said, "Metropolis is Superman's hangout. I'm not trying to keep up with every mass shooting. This world is savage to its core."

"I want to be apprised of these situations," he said.

"You're not thinking this through, Vulcan," Orion said, "The media reported on six mass shootings in the last two days. Do you want info on all those shootings too?"

"Fine! I get your point," JJ said.

"We're a violent people," Vera said, "That's for sure. I can really use that suit."

JJ put on his gray sweats, sat on the edge of the couch, and then said, "No. Why would you put yourself in danger?"

"Because I want to feel like a member of this team," she said, "I'm just the outsider."

"Quit that,' JJ said. "There's nothing truthful to what you just said."

He pressed the record button on the remote and recorded the news segment that showed the violence. The woman's name was Sara Candy, and she was an older, somewhat chubby white woman, short hair, and wearing a silver cross around her neck. All of the victims were in the kneeling position in the middle of the studio, and she stood behind them with a large caliber handgun.

"It looks like a forty-four," JJ said with a grimace. "She's saying something, but I it appears the news station bleeped it."

"She's doing quite a bit of talking," Vera said. "Maybe she's asking them for absolution."

"I think she's saying, 'Take this racist'," he said. He rewound the macabre display again, played it, and then rewound it several more times.

"How many times are you going to watch it?" Orion said, "She blew her own brains out."

"Why are you complaining?" He asked. "You know I'm studying the footage."

"What are you studying?" Peppermint said as she walked back into the room. "She's dead. Case closed."

"Orion, did you see that?" He asked as he sat next to the television.

"What? The same footage like a thousand times?" She asked.

JJ looked at a slight, amber glare in the killer's eyes, and due to the fact it happened repeatedly, it caught his attention. At first, he thought the cameras caused it, but then he wasn't sure. "There it is again."

"What?" Peppermint said. She sat by her fiancee and stared at the screen with him. Orion set on his right shoulder.

"Are you looking at that yellow glare in her eyes?" Orion said.

"Yes. Notice how it lit up right before she pulled the trigger?" He said, "What's the probability that she's being controlled?"

"It's possible, but I'm not going to put a number on it at this time," Orion said.

"We know that at least one Incubus was in the area," he said, "Actually, I know two Incubus were in the area."

"Okay," Peppermint said, "Didn't you say Bay Nelson was an Incubi?"

"True," JJ said, "But he's sixteen. Could he have found true love at such a young age?"

"You do realize you turn seventeen on April first?" Vera said.

"Well, I'm not sure what you're suggesting, but Peppermint and I are special."

"We can't be so narrow-minded, JJ," Orion said, "A Gorgon could glamour a person into killing people."

"That's true, but Incubi have dominion over the females while a Succubi has control over the males. The Gorgons glamour isn't near as strong, but they're not hindered by a person's sex when it comes to mind manipulation."

"Just let Metropolis folks handle the issue," Orion said.

"If we're dealing with an active Incubi, he can will the women to murder people. This means he can control all of you. This is the reason I re-designed the Red Raider suit with better telepathic-blocking tech. It should work against the Incubi."

"You're trying to step on Superman's territory, again," Orion said.

"Again? When Sheila called out to me, I had every right to intervene," he said, "It was my duty to send her back home. The same thing goes for a rogue Incubi. They're from the Old Kingdom and descendants from my loin. Should I simply forsook them because eight hundred thousand years have passed?"

"Incubi, men, Deceivers, and all the creatures of the Speed Force have grown past the need for Ptah," Orion said, "When you go through your complete apotheosis, I hope you keep that in mind and let them be. It's not your job to save humanity from itself. Humans have had two hundred thousand years to learn, but failed to do so. The judgment has happened. The phage is in place."

"Did the Green Witch tell you to speak to me like that?" He asked.

"No! You sent Veo and me back so you wouldn't overstep your boundaries," she said, "We're made with Doraxian technology, but you downloaded my conscience into this machine from the Neuronet that you built two million years ago. I was with you when you loved Dora. I warned you about your relationship with the Great Mother. I've been with you when you've done right and when you've done wrong."

Peppermint laughed, and said, "Why do I know about this?"

"I restored your memories from the Neuronet," JJ said, "I was hooked to the Neuronet when I went back to our homeworld, and my daughters restored my memories." He paused for a moment, and then said, "I won't worry about this Metropolis business. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's Superman's domain."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

TJ and Ursula took the trolley over to the hospital where Mister Rush was located. The outside of the vehicle had a picture of Superman's symbol on it. In the daytime, Metropolis looked like a modern city with all the amenities. On the other side of Trauma Medical was the Daily Planet that merged with News Channel Five, and they headed the reporting on the Action News Four shooting. A plethora of media sources, looky-loos, and families of the deceased were all over the hospital, and when the couple walked into the building, they were bombarded by a hundred microphones.

"I'm not prepared to give a statement at this time," Ursula said, "I lost family tonight." That was the end of the conversation, and TJ was impressed by the fact she cut off the conversation without fumbling. Holding her hand, they went directly to the emergency room and searched for Mister Rush. He was in room number six. When they walked into his room, he lay on the bed with his right leg in the air. He had a cast on it and appeared to be relaxing.

"Your wife isn't here?" Ursula asked.

He looked over at her for a moment and then said, "She doesn't care. I called her, and she told me she hoped I had died."

Bay looked at him for a moment, and immediately assumed it wasn't the cheating that caused Randy's wife to turn her back on him, but it was the simple fact he didn't have principles. For the short-lived fame, a medium income level, and a white woman, he gave up his principles, turned on his own people, and didn't have an ounce of loyalty to anybody except his hedonistic lifestyle.

Randy tried to sit up in the bed, but according to his face, he was in a lot of pain. "Did the police shoot Sara?" Ursula asked in a calm voice. "I was under the impression the cops took her out."

Mister Rush shook his head in the negative, and said, "When I ran out of the newsroom, I hit my leg on the steps, burst it open, and pretty much low crawled out of the room. All I could hear was the whimpering and the crying. Before Sara shot our co-workers, she would say, 'I charge you with racism. The punishment is death.'" He paused for a moment as he told the story, and then in a brittle voice, he said, "Boom. She then blew off another person's head. She did the same thing repeatedly. I was so scared that I could barely move."

"Damn! Why didn't she kill you?" TJ asked with a grimace.

"That's the crazy part," he said, "I was lying in the hallway. My leg was throbbing. I heard Sara's steps walking towards me. She then said, 'I charge you with racism.' I closed my eyes, and waited for the bullet to the head." After pausing for a few seconds, and swallowing. He said, "Pow! Then her body dropped near my feet."

"I don't know why I thought she shot you," she said.

"I was shot," he said, "By the cops."

"The cops?" TJ asked.

"Yeah," he said, "I crawled out the building, and before I had a chance to put my hands in the air, a cop fired, hit me in my hurt leg, and then I just laid as flat as possible."

"I don't understand," Ursula said, "Sara televised the murders. Everybody knew it was her doing the killing."

"When in doubt, take the black man out," TJ said, "But there shouldn't even have been any doubt. It was deliberate."

"She shot Blake first. It happened so fast that it took a second for me to realize what was happening," he said. "Blake hit the ground hard, passed out, but he wasn't dead. His girlfriend said he survived, but he's wearing a bag now."

"Shit!" Ursula exclaimed.

"Exactly," Mister Rush said laughingly.

Bay sat in a chair on the other side of the room, and his girlfriend sat on his lap. She received a message on her phone and made a grunting noise.

"What's the problem?" TJ asked.

"My cousin's fiance keeps offering me money," she said, "He's saying I'll need it."

"He's probably right," Randy said with a grimace. "It'll be months before we build a new team."

"I guess I'll tell JJ I need his money," she said.

"Your cousin's fiance is JJ?" TJ asked with a shaky voice.

"Yeah," she said.

"How long have they've been together?" He asked.

"They're only like sixteen or seventeen, but he's extremely smart. He built an app that brings him in a lot of money," she said, "But they've been together since birth. He was born around April First and she was born around April Second. Their fathers were like best friends until a gang shot his father when he was twelve-years-old. He died on the spot."

"They've really been together since birth?" He asked in disbelief. "That's incredible."

"For years, at least a couple times a week after his father died, he would run over to Peppermint's apartment, into her room, and make sure she was okay. My Uncle Lee used to stress out over JJ's bouts of anxiety, but he's all better now."

TJ laughed a little, and then said, "Yeah. Something probably changed in him."

"What makes you say that?" She asked.

"JJ, Peppermint, and Vera are the rock band Black Mold," he said, "Right?"

'Yep," she said, "They're hardcore with their music."

"I was in National City at a formal dance that James Olsen threw in November, and he had some sucky music playing. This couple came in the ballroom, a black kid and an Asian girl, with guitars strapped to their backs. He stood directly in front of the band's singer looking at him like a crazy man. I thought they were going to start fighting. Suddenly, the young kid said, 'Do it right or don't do it all.' The singer stopped in the middle of his song, and then the young man grabbed the mike, and said, 'Who was born around nineteen seventy?' Half the room raised their hands. He then started singing classic eighties songs, and the entire room started partying. Come to find out, that was JJ and Peppermint, and the singer of the other band taught them how to play."

TJ placed his right hand on Ursula's back, and it felt soft to the touch. Now that he knew she loved him, he wanted her badly. He hadn't ever had sex in his entire life, and now that he had the perfect woman by his side, he was ready to experiment. He gently caressed her lower back until some young kids walked into the room. It was Randy's kids, but TJ didn't see the wife.

"Lovely, Kylie, and Nathan your father really needs you right now," Ursula said.

They hugged their father, and TJ thought it was a beautiful picture. "We're going to leave, for now, Mister Rush. Take care of yourself," TJ said.

Later in the evening…

When TJ (Bay) and Ursula walked out of the hospital, a group of prostitutes walked into the building, and when he saw them, he knew the reason why. Aesha Patel was still barely hanging on after the stabbing, and even though her killer was dead, he could never reveal that he witnessed it. But regardless of how the man died, he felt somewhat good that he wouldn't be able to hurt another person.

The young couple took the trolley back to his dilapidated motel. They walked holding hands and looked like the sweetest couple in the land. The parking lot in front of his motel teemed with indigent people cooking another pig over a burning trash can. The aroma of the cooking swine masked the horrible smell of car exhaust. Their cold faces showed the pain of aging, and how poverty made it that much worse. Every one of them had their own way of dealing with life, and it all led to an early demise. No matter what he saw he recognized the pain of aging, and it was a pain that all people felt. But at the same time, he had to contend with the understanding that his entire life wasn't his life. TJ Jones was an imaginary man created on a computer. He had a fake credit score, a fake social security number, a fake birth certificate, and a fake college transcript. He was a fake man.

He looked back at Ursula as she stood quietly to his rear, and then opened the door to his room. Her bangs set right above her eyebrows, and the back of her hair was long. She lay on his bed, turned on the television, and said, "Why don't you go get us some Bang Bang Burgers?" He smiled for a moment because he didn't understand why she desired to lay in his dirty bed, in the dirty motel, and pretend like it didn't matter.

"Yeah," he said, "I'm going to head over there in a little bit." He walked out of his room, made sure the door locked behind him, and then headed down the street to Bang Bang Burgers. It was only a few blocks over, but the streets were sparsely crowded, but in a few hours, he expected the crowds would come. After about a block down the road, he heard the roar of a loud engine, and he recognized it. The car pulled up beside him, and a bald Hispanic man sat in the passenger seat.

"I know what you did, homie," he said, "We got your ass on video." The driver revved the engine of the car, and slowly drove beside Bay as he walked down the street. "You kill my cousins."

TJ turned to the man, and said, "What are you talking about, boy?" The older Hispanic guy had a scar over his right eye, and it looked hideous.

"You killed my cousins," he said with a grimace, "I've watched the video a thousand times, and I know it was you. You'll pay for what you've done. You're a demon. I see it in your eyes, in your gait, and in your talk. I know your kind. I've seen it in Olmec. They call you Incubi, a demon who can seduce women into doing heinous crimes. Your strength is beyond the ordinary."

Bay paused for a moment, and said, "I don't know what I am. But when I'm attacked, I attack back. It's the only thing I truly understand."

"We'll be coming for you, monster," he said, "I promise you that."

When the Hispanic man drove off in his hot-rod, he laughed for a moment because he didn't believe what the guy said. The things he spoke about were crazy, and he didn't think he had the ability to control anybody. A young woman of the night walked by him, and he said, "Can I see your breasts?" She pulled down her blouse, he looked at her bare chest for a moment, and then she put them away. It happened that fast, and then she continued back down the street. But at the same time, he didn't think that proved anything. She was a prostitute, and they had their goods on display all the time. It was part of their job. When he came across another young lady, about twenty-something, and dressed for the club walked past him, he said, "Can I see your breast?"

She turned around, smiled, pulled up her shirt, and put them on display for a good five seconds. When she did that, he didn't see the cop car parked across the street. The lights flashed, and then it pulled up to the girl. It was two female cops, and they were belligerent with the young, black woman.

"Do you know you just broke the law?" Officer Janeway said. She had reddish-brown hair that she wore in a ponytail. When she pulled out her handcuffs, Bay immediately thought he needed to intervene.

"Officer Janeway and Officer Jenkins, please show me your breasts, then leave without arresting this young lady," he said with a smile. The officers stood in front of him, and slowly undid their blouses. It happened one button at a time, and then they unbloused their shirts and took their blouses off completely. Once they removed their shirts, they had on white bras that they pulled down around their waists. "That's enough," he said. "Now, please get dressed and leave."

After Bay finished buying the food, he went back to his room, and Ursula lay on the bed watching television. She sat up, grabbed her bag of food, and began eating her burger. "Can I see your breasts?" He asked.

She laughed. "You will later," she said with a smile. "If you're good."

He smiled, and thought, _why didn't she pull off her shirt like the other women did_? He didn't know anything about his gifts, and that bothered him. He knew he had limitations, but he didn't know what they were. Ursula sat across from him on the bed, without a clue of his powers, and living her life in a complete bubble.

"What took you so long getting the food?" She asked. "I thought I was going to have to search you down."

"I needed some time to think about everything that happened today," he said calmly. "If you had returned to Action News Four immediately, you would've been shot too. It's kind of playing over and over in my head right now. I guess I was kind of lucky that she fired me."

"Shoot! I was thinking the same thing," she said, "I ran into Mister Ryan, and he was discussing his new book with me. He's been a little down because his wife was arrested a few days ago."

"I saw something about that online," he said, "After the cops shot her son, she attacked one of them."

"I don't think his money can save her," she said, "They still haven't found that Bay guy. I was looking at his picture the other day. You have his mouth."

He laughed for a moment, and then said, "I don't look anything like that guy."

"It's okay," she said, "You're hot like no tomorrow."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

He didn't know Ursula's religious affiliation, and she worshiped about a mile down the street from Action News Four at a Megachurch. For some reason, he never thought to ask if she worshiped any particular god. He lay next to her in the old, shady motel room bed, and watched her for a moment as she slept. They discussed church after having their first round of intercourse, and due to his feelings about her, he decided he'd go to church with her. When it came to most black people, they were highly religious, but not him. Due to his parents' scientific backgrounds, they didn't have much room for religion in the household. Never once did they pray nor invoke a god in any way when his father suffered from stage four pancreatic cancer. But due to the fact he saw his Momma on television a few days earlier begging him to come home, he assumed some kind of higher power existed. In his mind, it was a science that he didn't understand, but he wanted to understand.

The couple slept in the nude after they finished with a night of coitus, and since he climaxed repeatedly, he hoped the night wouldn't end in a wet dream. It was his struggle, a struggle that he lived with for years. He could smell her fluids all over his body, especially around his manhood. Every time he took a breath, her taste was in his mouth. She lay on the bed, under a white sheet, and he pressed his chest against her back. He liked the way her body felt against his, the way she snored lightly, and pushed against his erect member. It was all new to him, and he liked the way the moment felt. The clock struck eight o'clock in the morning, and then the alarm rang loudly.

After they made love one more time, took a quick shower, and dressed, they walked about two miles to the Mega Church, and it was larger than life. He saw the building several times in the last few weeks and it took up a city block. The ten o'clock worship service had about eight thousand people in attendance, and some of them were dressed in fancy suits while other ones wore shredded threads. Ursula held his left hand while they walked up to the cathedral. The Reverend's name was Johnny Big Money Michaels, and he wasn't that big of a man at all. He had a small afro, fancy shoes, and a fancier suit. It looked like it was made out of gold.

Bay thought over ten thousand people filled the cathedral, but he wasn't sure of the count. He was so far up in the stands that he needed the large monitor that set above his seat to see him. When they sat down, he sat on the outside row and Ursula sat on his right-hand side. He could barely imagine how much money it cost to seat so many people, and in addition to that, so many bodies probably caused a lot of damage to the furniture.

"I love being around so many people," Ursula said with a smile. "It's so refreshing seeing so many people coming to worship after yesterday's tragedy."

He looked at the monitor as the preacher began speaking, and he rattled off about different types of programs that benefited single women. When he looked around the gigantic room, he mostly saw nothing but women and only a few men. It was odd, to say the least.

"These are trying times, people," Johnny Big Money Michaels said as he held his Bible up for the people to see. "This isn't the time to lose faith. First, we experienced the deaths of ten of our brothers in the Freeland massacre. That demon killed a total of twenty-five officers of the law. Those were good police officers, people, and didn't deserve to die at the hands of a super-freak, a demon in the disguise of a man. And I'm telling you, folks, the teenager who killed those cops was pure evil in every sense of the word. " Bay tried to concentrate on the night he spent with Ursula, and with all his strength, he tried his best to block out the preacher's rhetoric. But then Johnny Big Money Michaels said, "He came from a broken home, with no values and no father." His words formed into a sharp blade, repeatedly stabbing him in the heart, and the tears flowed down his face freely.

"Then, we have this so-called superhero who goes by the name of the Vulcan who just stole six-hundred and twenty-five million dollars from the good people of Downing Chemical," he said as he slammed the Bible on his podium. "This burns me up inside because he did it in plain sight. There's not one drop of evidence of contamination in the city of Freeland, but this superhero thug comes along with his greasy palms out, and says, 'Give me money!'"

The animus within Bay's heart grew exponentially against the pastor because of his hateful rhetoric. The emptiness and loneliness grew in his soul, and all he could think about was killing the man. He could feel his face contorting. He felt his eyes burning like a hint of crowd-control gas permeated through the air. Several women throughout the crowd cheered at the pastor's words, denounced the Vulcan, and then when he saw the way the people derided the one man who tried to make a difference, he spit a toxic mist in the air that traveled through the aisles, and found each woman who cheered and infected them with murderous rage for the pastor. He draped them in his magic, in his anger, and deep into his apathy, and nothing could stop what he put in their hearts.

In his mind, he thought, _if they have guns, then use guns or if they have knives, then use knives—or if they have none of those things, then rip him apart with their bare hands_. By the time the pastor finished his diatribe, Bay had saturated the entire room with his mist. It searched out any woman who derided the Vulcan in their minds. The more they hated him the more rage and anger they felt for the pastor. And then he noticed the men cheering and screaming, "Down with the Vulcan!" He turned his anger towards them, towards their wives, and put them all on his mystical hit-list.

"I can't take any more of this," Bay said as he walked to the exist. When he looked back, Ursula grabbed him by the hands, and they walked out together, but as soon as the door shut behind him, the screams started. It was like the entire auditorium screeched in unison, and then a series of gunshots reverberated throughout the building.

"Was that gunfire?" Ursula asked.

"No," he said, "It sounded like music."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two

When Jennifer awoke on the Sunday morning of the massacre, she walked into the living room where her father, Jefferson Pierce, stood in front of the television. He had a sad look on his face, and due to the fact the helicopters flew overhead, she knew something was wrong. It was about ten-thirty in the morning and the hollering of helicopters over the house woke her up. She could hear helicopters' blades cracking the air, and as her father stood in front of the television, she looked out the living-room window.

"What's going on?" She asked with a befuddled countenance. Jefferson had some bacon in the oven and the aroma permeated throughout the entire house. At first, all she could think about was the bacon.

"It appears thousands are possibly dead in a mass killing in Metropolis," Jefferson said with a noticeable grimace, "It's the worst mass killing in US history according to the preliminary reports." She placed her left hand over her mouth because she couldn't believe that a thousand people had died. She wondered if a terrorist cell was responsible for the killing.

For a moment, she felt like she couldn't breathe because she knew people that attended the Mega Church. She thought about her friend, Vicent Ray, one of her old, middle school friends who attended the church. In addition, she wondered why Superman wasn't able to stop the slaughter. She had a lot of questions about the event, but no real answers. "Was it done with a machine gun?" She asked.

"No. It appears several women at the Mega Church attacked the other members with blunt instruments and knives. The media is saying over two thousand people are dead."

When the Vulcan landed in the middle of the crowd, people started screaming for him to leave, but he didn't appear to pay any attention them. The media had the camera on him for a long time, and then he suddenly pointed to one of the cops, and they started directing the crowd away from the scene. Within the first thirty minutes of the Vulcan's arrival, several reporters stated nobody died in the building. It almost sounded contrived.

"How in the hell did the media mess up that report?" Jennifer asked.

"You better watch your mouth, girl! You're not grown."

"Yes, sir," she said as she plopped down on the sofa. "So, did the Vulcan give Freeland the money from the chemical waste spill?" She asked.

"Not only did he give us the forty million we asked, he gave us an additional sixty million. He also got Wayne Corp to fund our Computer Department." He paused for a moment, and said, "Life is looking a lot better for Freeland."

Later…

Jennifer walked into Bang Bang Burgers and ordered a Graveyard Shake. As she stood at the counter, she saw Officer Jackie Davison enter the restaurant. He was missing the lower portion of his right leg due to diabetes. He was one of the cops who repeatedly raced up and down the street for nearly twenty-four hours. In addition, he was the cop who shot Thong Ryan in the back. When he walked into the eatery, he gave Jennifer a grimace, but she remained somber in her countenance. Under no circumstance did she want the cop to think she feared him.

Quickly, Jennifer paid for her shake, and as soon as she walked to the exit, she heard officer Jackie Davison ask, "You're that killer's girlfriend!"

Pausing, she stood at the door with a grimace on her face. Slowly, she turned to the cop and then said, "I don't know what you mean."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Three

"I need all these people out of here, Chief," the Vulcan said, "Get me that damn fire truck like I asked." He wanted the fire truck so he could flood the auditorium with a deluge of water. The water was the medium he needed to revive all the bodies at the same time.

When the Vulcan walked up to the church, he could hear the people of Metropolis complaining about his presence. He moved the crowds away from the building because he knew what had to be done: the resurrection of over two thousand churchgoers. Since he returned from his homeworld, his powers steadily increased. Rachel Ballard told him he'd grow stronger, faster, and more powerful over time, and then when he reached the age of twenty-one, he'd go through his apotheosis. The people screamed curses at him, but he didn't care at the time because of the stadium full of dead people.

He knew the people of Metropolis hated him after Downing Chemical paid him over six hundred million dollars for cleaning up the chemical waste in Freeland. Due to the fact that Downing neglected their commitment to the people, the Vulcan made sure they paid for his services.

After he cleaned up the waste, he developed the ability to restore life; it was an attribute that he had for millions of years, but it took time to resurface in his new body. He was able to restore life like he did in the old days, the days before time and when he resided in a different universe. He no longer needed the device that the Green Witch sent to him for healing people, and according to his calculations, he'd go through another transformation within a few months.

Orion flew up to the Vulcan, sat on his shoulder, and then said, "There's really too many witnesses to restore all these people back to life," she said, "It'll make too much of a commotion."

The Vulcan cleared his throat for a moment. "Do you remember this event on the timeline?" He asked. "If I said that I needed to restore these lives, then I need to restore them." When Orion doubted him, he became somewhat frustrated with her. It wasn't the first time she upset him and it wouldn't be the last time. The Vulcan, Orion, and Veo when back a long long time, some five million years ago when they lived on a planet called Dora.

"No. But…," She said, "You're being a real dick right now. I'm your sage and I demand you treat me with respect."

Suddenly, the Vulcan felt bad, and then said, "I'm sorry, Orion. It's just I'm frustrated because of all the taunts. I try to do something nice for the people, but the media spins it, turns the people against me, and makes life much harder than it needs to be."

"Your powers are growing every day," she said, "Surely, you can just leave this world behind and let the Destroyer annihilate the human race."

Orion and the Vulcan were from the old verse, a verse full of dragons, Sirens, and magic; and in those days, the Vulcan was called Ptah and Orion was his wife. She had a son named Veo who Ptah adopted as his own, and when the Great Father killed them, Ptah imbued flying robots with their memories. It was the only way he could preserve his first wife. Orion, Veo, and the Godspark were well over five million years old, but now that JJ carried it, he had a learning curve.

When he first met Orion, just a year or so earlier, he thought they were merely robots, but after his daughter imbued him with his old memories from the previous verse, the passion and love for them returned. He now cared for Orion and Veo like he did Peppermint; they were his family.

"You're making a mistake, JJ," she said calmly. "But you know, don't you?"

"I've made up my mind," he said with a grimace. Standing in front of the Mega Church, he said, "You know me better than any being in existence. I won't change my mind on this. It wasn't their fault that Bay did this."

"I know you too well," she said, "I know you wouldn't allow all these people to die, but the human race is on the precipice of its destruction."

"Then what iteration is this?" The Vulcan asked.

"The third," she said.

"And how did the human race fair in the previous two?" He asked.

"Not too good," she said, "In the second iteration, the Destroyer put the plague in motion."

"Who called for the third iteration?" He asked calmly.

"You did," she said, "With all the evil and nastiness within the human race, you said something good could come of them. I disagreed."

JJ sent out a telepathic message to James Olsen, and said, "I need you and Kara in Metropolis. Bring a camera crew."

"What's going on?" He thought.

"The media already reported that two thousand people died," he said telepathically, "We have to spin it to say something like no known fatalities. I'll get Clark to write an article about the mistake."

"On our way," James thought.

"There's the fire truck," Orion said. It pulled up to the building, and then the Chief ran into the facility with the hose. The crew soaked everything in the room, but when JJ walked into the large theater, he used his telekinesis to flip back the podium, and a sea of water came up out of the ground. The bodies began to float around the place of worship. Suddenly, the Chief raced around the room at an amazing speed and placed nearly a thousand bodies in the center of the room.

"What are you, Chief?" The Vulcan asked. "Are you a speedster?"

"Hermes," he said as he morphed into his son. The Vulcan began to sob as he embraced his child.

"It's been a million years since I imprisoned you in the Speed Force," the Vulcan said. "I hope you can forgive me for that."

"It was a tumultuous time, father," he said calmly. "We were at war over the Kryptonians. One hundred years ago they all died out."

"You and your brothers always thought you were smarter than me," the Vulcan said, "I'd never let you kill all the Kryptonians."

"What?" Orion asked. "What're you saying?"

"I have fifty, gorgonized Kryptonians in the Celestial Kingdom," he said, "Protected by my daughters. They've been there over one point five million years. Luciferous will put them on Praxis, and if I see one Man-bot or Lantern near Praxis, I will return to Oa with the Demon."

"So, the war continues?" Hermes said.

"Praxis is under a red sun," he said, "The Kryptonians have no more power than a human being under a red sun. I'm asking you to leave them alone so they may come into their own."

"This means we're still at war. Oa's policy on Kryptonians hasn't changed. We're still at war," Hermes said.

"Then war it is," the Vulcan said, "Meanwhile, help me restore these people?"

"Yes, father," he said.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

Bay watched the news closely on the killings at the Mega Church, but nobody reported anything after the first day. He flipped through the channels frantically because he wanted to see the aftermath of what he caused: the killing of all the men in the Mega Church by the women. Ursula lay nude and asleep in the hotel room bed, and as he flipped through the channels, she said, "Today is supposed to be a fantastic day. Let's take a stroll through the park." He looked over at her for a moment and her left breast slightly peeked through the sheet. She had prominent looking nipples that Bay thought were amazing.

The room reeked of his scent and her vaginal sweat, and with all the wild, untamed sex they had over the last week, the room always smelled of their sins. Often, and without missing a beat, he wondered where the relationship would end up since he was a notorious criminal in the disguise of a man named TJ, but he was only a boy of sixteen. All he ever wanted was to take care of his Momma. He didn't want to be the cop killer that the system made. Every time he made love to Ursula, the faces of the cops he killed popped into his mind. It played like a compilation of videos streamed together to provoke a thought. It was a montage of images.

When he read an article about the church online, he knew something wasn't right. Clark Kent had written an article about the pastor tripping on the first step up to the podium, but nothing else. It was so innocent of an article that he checked the date just to make sure it was a recent writing. It should have read about the women going on a murderous rampage, but it had none of that. It was a humorous piece about a pastor tripping during his fiery sermon. For a moment, he wondered if his powers were working, but he knew when he and Ursula left the church, he heard the chaos in the background. Flummoxed, he quickly dressed, and then finally said, "It is a nice day out. I'm going to go get us a quick breakfast."

"Okay, babe," she said.

He walked down the street to the large church, and a fleet of carpenters repaired what appeared to be a lot of water damage. Several trucks aligned the streets, and from what he could tell, they were all plumbers. They had several large trucks backed up to the building draining massives amount of water.

Immediately, he knew the Vulcan had something to do with the outcome because he was the only person he knew who could restore life. He saved his momma from her deathbed. He wanted to hurt the Vulcan for meddling in his business, and to be honest, he had grown tired of superheroes. Superman, Supergirl, the Vulcan, and Black Lightning all made him sick. He wanted the pastor dead for what he said about him, and now that the man was still alive, he thought about killing him with his bare hands.

He walked into the building to see what was happening, and to his amazement, he saw the pastor helping the men to rip up the carpet. It dismayed him that the guy was still alive. When he walked out of the main room, he stood in front of a mirror in the lobby. The razor stubble on his head was now visible, and if he wanted to stay incognito, he had to remain bald. It didn't matter. The fact that the pastor didn't die bothered him, but with no time and no job, he didn't have the time to kill the pastor. Frustrated, he walked out of the building, down the street, and then over to the fast food eatery.

Later...

It was a strange Tuesday, strange because the Mega Church was still open and Action News Four was now back on the air with Mister Rush running the entire company. Ursula returned to work, and now that she was in the anchor chair, he felt she would slowly distance herself from him. It was okay. He didn't want to drag her down the road of unrighteousness that he was headed. The demons raced around in his mind and he wanted to hurt people. All day he thought about killing people, and even though he tried to think positive, he couldn't help himself. He wanted to hurt the people that wronged him.

Tuesday afternoon, around four o'clock, Bay walked with Ursula over to Metropolis Park, a park approximately a mile from his hotel room. It was a sunny day and she wore a soft, blue spring dress that he liked. Her make-up was near perfect because she had a team of artist fixing it every morning. He expected her career to take her places, and if she wanted her star to rise, he knew he'd have to sever their relationship.

"It's so nice out today," Ursula said with a smile. "I can't believe Randy gave me the anchor job."

"You deserve it," Bay said calmly. "If anybody deserves it, it's you."

When he entered the park, he noticed a statue of Superman stood in the middle of it. Of all the heroes in existence, the world celebrated no other like they did Superman. A hot dog vendor pushed his cart passed them and gave Bay an ominous glance. He watched the guy for a moment but paid his gaze no mind.

"I was just thinking," she said.

"About what?" Bay asked.

She looked over at him for a moment and then said, "We could've gone to your hotel room for a quickie, but we're standing here in the middle of Metropolis park. What gives?" She said, "You didn't seem to enthused about it this morning."

He paused for a moment, and then asked, "What are you doing with me?"

Smiling, she said, "What do you mean?"

"You're a beautiful woman. You're going places, Ursula. What are you doing with me?" He asked.

"You're making me nervous, TJ," she said with a half smile.

He sighed. Placing his hands in his pockets, he wanted to tell Ursula the truth about his identity. Due to the fact he loved her, he didn't want his life interfering with her career. "I'm not who I claim to be."

"What?" She asked in a brittle voice.

The park was somewhat crowded. Several strange looking men traversed the area and looked as if they were trying to surround him. "I'm Bay Nelson."

She laughed a little, and then said, "Quit playing, TJ."

Pulling out his phone, he showed her a picture of Bay Nelson and then he said, "I'm Bay Nelson. I'm telling you this because I have to leave Metropolis." She gasped. Suddenly, the sound of gunfire startled the young man. He didn't know what to make of it, but his girlfriend looked like she was in pain. When she fell into his arms, he began screaming. When he looked up, he saw several gang members holding rifles.

"I told you, nigga! I'd make you pay for my family," he said with a grimace. It was the Hispanic man with the scar over his right eye. Ursula lay on the ground barely hanging on to life, and he didn't know what to do. The man with the scar over his right eye was with three Hispanic women and two other Hispanic men were with him.

Bay's eyes turned bright yellow, and then the women gunned down the Hispanic men without flinching once. Both of the women wore red, short skirts that went right above the knees. As Bay sat next to Ursula with tears streaming down his face, he said, "Go back to your people, kill them, and then kill yourselves." Holding her head in his lap, he sat on the ground crying, but due to all the gunfire, the police descended on the scene. Within fifteen minutes, an army of cameras was in his face, and then out of nowhere, a cop screamed, "Bay Nelson!"

The cops tore him away from Ursula's body, placed him on the ground, and cuffed his hands. When they snatched him to his feet, Action News Four stuck a camera in his face. "If you have Superpowers, free me from these cops!" He exclaimed while looking directly into the camera. The police threw him in back of their patrol car, and while doing so, they hit his head on the side of the door.

"You won't make it in Metropolis County for what you've done, boy," one of the cops said, "There's a lot of cops that want you dead."

Bay sat in the backseat of the car, with his hands behind his back, and closed his eyes. The cops took off down the street, and in a matter of seconds, an electrical bolt came out of the sky causing the car to flip over on its roof. With just the tug on the cuffs, he broke them off. Looking over at the two cops, they were dead in the front seat.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Six

Vera walked into the living room, and to her surprise, everybody was gone. At first, she felt dismayed at the idea her best friend left her behind. She looked around the large room for a moment, and no matter how hard she tried, she didn't believe JJ would leave her behind. She sat in the recliner for a moment, placed her head on the back of it, and tried to relax, but she couldn't. She seethed with anger because her best friend left her. "JJ! Peppermint! Did they leave me?" All she had on at the moment was a soft, white bath towel and some pink panties. "Veo, where are you?" She asked.

Suddenly, he appeared out of nowhere, and said, "Something is happening in Metropolis. All the ladies on our team is under the control of Bay Nelson." Veo displayed a video of the action on the screen. He synced his camera with Orion's camera, and Vera watched the action live. She saw the Vulcan fighting Supergirl in hand to hand combat, and then when Superman arrived on the scene, the Lantern slammed him to the ground.

She noticed Supergirl chasing the Vulcan all over the city of Metropolis, and as soon as she closed the gap, he disappeared and then reappeared on top of her. Flipping over on her back, Supergirl hit him with a full blast of her heat vision. The entire video turned a bright red. It looked like Veo was showing an image of the sun. The Vulcan screamed so loudly that it caused Vera dismay.

"He's holding back," Veo said. "He's fighting the people he loves."

'He's not going to hurt Kara under any circumstance," Vera said, "He's definitely not going to hurt Peppermint. He trained Eli Ga'Narian and Lightning, so..."

When Orion flew behind her, she zapped Supergirl's brain. The girl of steel tumbled to the ground, but the Vulcan caught her with his telekinesis. As he tried to lay her on the ground safely, a bolt of lightning struck him in the chest, and then he tumbled to the ground.

"Holy shit," Vera screamed. "He's trying not to hurt them, but getting killed in the process."

"It's time to suit up," Veo said.

"Suit up? What are you talking about, Veo?" She asked.

"JJ built the new suit specifically for you," he said as he handed her a silver ring. It had the letter "V" in the middle of it. "Put on the ring, and then say, 'Suit up.'" The fact that JJ trusted her with his suit shocked her, and she wanted to wear it badly.

When she placed the ring on her right hand, she held her fist into the air, and said, "Suit up." All of the sudden, she had on a silver suit that covered her entire body. "I can feel the energy." Veo flew into a slot on her back.

"You're now Victory," Veo said.

Moments later…

Victory leaped off the balcony, twirled through the air, and then Veo opened up a portal to Metropolis, and when she came out on the other side, the entire night sky was on fire. Lightning flew above Victory and bolts of lightning flew in every direction. Quickly, she looked around for the Vulcan, but he was helping the Guardian to his feet.

"Veo, I need something to block Bay's spell," she said.

"I'm contacting +Orion right now," he said, "She's telling me that I can reprogram your electrical field, and shoot Lightning with it. It should disrupt Bay's spell for a short while."

"Do it," she said.

It took approximately ten minutes before Victory shot Lightning in the head with the ray to block Bay's thought. But when she fired upon her, Supergirl came out of the darkness and hit Vera in the face. She tumbled to the Earth, but the Vulcan caught her. When he sat her on the ground, he could see Bay on the other side of the park. The young man had tears streaming down his face, and JJ didn't know why he was crying.

"Why have you done this?" The Vulcan asked Bay as he cried.

"They killed her," he said. "They killed my Ursula." The young man clenched his fist, screamed, and then tried to attack the Vulcan. With the power of his mind, he crippled the Incubus mentally, and it was just enough to free Lightning from his insidious spell.

Peppermint landed in front of the Vulcan and then shot him with a mountain of goo. As soon as she caught his feet, Supergirl punched him in the throat. He fell to the ground, on his knees, and screamed as loud as he could. It sent a shockwave through the air causing soil, grass, and trees to uproot in the middle of the park.

Lightning flew through the air, freed from the mind control, threw a lightning bolt, and hit Bay in the chest. Immediately, it broke the spell, and everybody returned to their normal state.

"What happened?" Supergirl asked.

LIghtning landed in front of the Vulcan, and said, "Do I know you? You seem so familiar."

The Vulcan smiled and said, "You're a badass." He walked over to Ursula as she lay dead on the ground. She looked similar to Peppermint in her calm state and it brought fear to his heart. He pushed her long hair out of her eyes, and then placed his hands on her chest. An electrical energy came out of his body and brought her back to life. Slowly, she climbed to her feet.

"I was dead," she said with a calm demeanor. "You brought me back."


End file.
